Clean Up Australia next weekend

A 10-cent deposit on drink bottles and cans would dramatically improve recycling rates in NSW and force industry to take more responsibility for the waste it creates.

Clean Up Australia Day is next weekend.

On Saturday 4 March I'll be in Mayfield at Throsby Creek for Clean-Up day. I'll be there with the Greens candidate for Port Stephens, Charmian Eckersley. This area is still in the tidal zone with small fish coming up it, and flows through both electorates - in a concrete open drain. Everyone is welcome to come and join us.

Clean Up Australia is a wonderful initiative that would be made a lot easier for those involved if we produced less waste on the other 364 days of the year.

Survey figures released by Clean Up Australia show that 83% of people in NSW believe a 10-cent deposit and refund scheme would encourage more people to recycle bottles and cans, and that 89% think drink manufacturers should be involved in setting up such a deposit and refund scheme.

A 10-cent deposit scheme would force industry to be more responsible for this waste and would also boost recycling rates enormously.

In South Australia, where they have a deposit scheme, the recycling rate is over 80 per cent.

Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) would work hand-in-hand with council kerbside recycling to reduce waste going to landfill.

The current national agreement to reduce waste, the National Packaging Covenant, does not force the packaging industry and retailers to take on a fair share of the costs of recycling.

Newcastle residents continue to foot the bill to prop up kerbside recycling while the companies that create the waste in the first place sidestep any responsibility for where the waste ends up.

A container deposit scheme would create a level playing field where consumers and producers shared responsibility for dealing with waste. Landfill space is fast running out and more effective ways of recycling are urgently needed.

It would also help make Clean Up Australia Day a cost effective exercise for those fantastic people that get involved in it.