Is 10c drinks charge the best way to reduce Australia’s mountain of rubbish?

A REFUNDABLE tax on drinks containers could soon be in place across Australia — but is it enough to clean up the country?

Lynn Mann collects discarded drinks containers on Sydney’s Balmoral Beach. Picture: Braden Fastier

A 10 CENT tax on drinks containers could soon be in place across Australia — but will it really change our habits and help clean up the country?

Shoppers in NSW will pay 10 cents extra for cans and plastic bottles from July 2017, but receive the cash back if they return the empties to depots or reverse vending machines.

Schools, community groups and scouting troops are expected to use container collections for fundraising.

NSW Premier Mike Baird told reporters yesterday it was “an historical day for NSW” in its mission to reduce litter by 40 per cent by 2020.

A similar scheme is already in place in South Australia, and raised $60 million last year.

But a 2014 blog post on Keep NSW Beautiful argued that people should do “the right thing for the right reasons, not for 10 cents upon return.”

The article claimed 10 cents won’t buy an “anti-litter culture” and that Australia needs wider “behaviour change on a national societal scale”.

The blog post revealed that, despite having had a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) since 1977, South Australia is not the cleanest state in the country. Victoria comes top, having reduced litter by almost 60 per cent over the past eight years.

Victoria’s approach combines public awareness with convenient infrastructure, identifying litter hot spots and installing appropriate bins to create social norms.

Keep NSW Beautiful told news.com.au it does not editorialise on such matters and supports the latest container deposit scheme, with senior staff members sitting on the advisory committee and working group.

Households will still be able to throw away cans and bottles, with the extra cost to those that don’t return containers coming to around $30 a year. The 10 cents refund will go to the councils, to be used for waste collection.

Wine, milk, and juice will not be included in the scheme.

NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman said drink containers make up about 45 per cent of the volume of litter in the state.

“The container deposit scheme will play a big part in helping NSW achieve our goal of reducing the volume of litter by 40 per cent by 2020,” he added.

In 2012, Coca-Cola Amatil went to Federal Court to stop a similar Northern Territory recycling scheme. Coke, along with Schweppes Australia and Lion Pty Ltd, claimed the initiative was a failure, with only 33 per cent of containers recycled.

It claimed “container deposit schemes have consistently been found to be the most expensive and inefficient method of increasing recycling rates.”

But activists said the real reason for the beverage giants’ opposition to the scheme was that they didn’t like the extra 10 cents added to the retail price. Cash for containers was reinstated in the Northern Territory in August 2013, after reportedly tripling recycling rates to 67 per cent in a year, with the recycling industry saying a national scheme could bring in $500 million in investment and 3500 jobs.

Coca-Cola chief executive Jeff Maguire yesterday cautiously welcomed the scheme as “low-cost” and “efficient”.

Campaigner Bruce Notley-Smith, Member for Coogee, told news.com.au: “I think this is a fantastic first step. This is the most significant piece of legislation for dealing with litter that the state’s ever seen.

“I’m overjoyed. I’ve believed for many years it was a great idea. It’s something I grew up with, deposits on bottles.”

He said he would look at other projects next, including banning lightweight plastic bags. “This will address the low-hanging fruit.”

A study conducted by Local Government NSW found councils across the country could save up to $183 million per year in recycling costs if a national scheme was introduced.

Similar schemes are in place around Europe, the USA and Latin America.

Queensland and the ACT have said they will be looking at the idea in more detail following its introduction in NSW.