Background Information: Austrailia wide there are roughly beverage containers 13 billion consumed annually. Of these, it is estimated that around 8 billion are not recycled. South Australia has maintained a Container Deposit Scheme for almost 40 years. In NSW the a recycling rate is around the 40% mark for beverage containers whereas South Australia achieves 80% – 85%. All figures from the Boomerang Alliance and Clean Up Australia (compare the SA & NSW Rubbish reports).
Why We Need a CDS
The Lane Cove Sustainability Action Group have, for some years now actively engaged in a fight against plastic pollution. Our actions have taken place locally as well as across the state and include active support for a proposed Container Deposit Scheme. Plastic is the fastest growing component of the waste stream worldwide. We are particularly concerned about the rapidly increasing amount of marine debris in our waterways and oceans. The increase in ocean plastic pollution, an estimated 20 million items added every day, is considered by some scientists as a problem on par with climate change. These problems are not taking place on distant shores but also in our own backyard. Dr Jennifer Lavers, University of Tasmania, has for some years now highlighted the problems in our own ocean backyard on the world heritage listed Lord Howe Island.
Lord Howe Island is within what is known as the South Pacific Gyre and it is within this area that parent shearwaters roam the oceans in search for food for their young. Dr Lavers’s research has established that over 90% of the shearwater chicks ingested some form of plastic. Shearwaters as well as many other birds and fish cannot distinguish between organic food and plastic. Needles to say many of those birds die a slow death as their stomachs are full “plastic food” which they can’t digest. This situation is truly tragic. It is also tragic that not one of Australia’s 11,000 beaches is now without some form of plastic pollution. It is estimated that over 30% of ocean plastic pollution originates from the beverage container industry. More than 15,000 beverage containers are landfilled or littered every minute. – Eight billion annuallly. It is within our capability to confront and deal with this problem. More than 82% of Australians support Container Deposit Legislation. An efficient and proven nationwide scheme, as proposed by Boomerang Alliance, will significantly improve recycling, reduce costs for local councils and create ongoing employment.
Take Action
Please see the Boomerang Alliance website.