Reducing litter and the environmental impact of discarded drink containers have been boosted today with a commitment by the State Government to introduce a refund scheme.
The State Government today announced it would create a container deposit scheme to be implemented by mid-2018 that would provide a 10 cent refund on used containers.
The WA Local Government Association said it was encouraging that there finally seemed to be a bipartisan approach to having a container deposit scheme for WA.
The Greens have long favoured a scheme while the Labor Opposition introduced supporting legislation back in 2011 that was opposed by the State Government at that time.
WALGA CEO Ms Ricky Burges said it was encouraging that the State Government had now changed its view on an issue that the Association had championed for at least the past decade.
“Creating a container deposit scheme has been an ongoing objective of the Local Government sector as a consequence of the potential to reduce litter and the amount of recyclable waste going to landfill,” she said.
“The announcement today by the State Government brings them into line with the other major political parties in WA on this issue.
“It will also bring WA into line with South Australia and the Northern Territory that have schemes and NSW and Queensland where similar schemes are being introduced.”
Securing a container deposit scheme was part of the WALGA 2017 State election document - Better Government Stronger Communities – released at the Association AGM last week.
“A lot can change between today’s announcement and the scheme’s intended commencement, not the least of which is the State election in March next year,” Ms Burges said.
“However our hope is that the bipartisan support now shown towards this issue will be maintained and WA will be able to finally realise the environmental benefit that a container deposit scheme would deliver.”