I have just returned from my local Beverage Emporium. On the counter is a new sign from the lovely state Govt telling us that as of the 1st November bottles and cans they sell will have a recycling surcharge and that consumers can take their empties to a recycling station (WHERE???) to get a refund of 10c per item. Apparently all beer cartons will cost the hotels around $5 each extra wholesale from the breweries but consumers will get $2.40 or $3.00 back. About the container refund scheme | Environment, land and water | Queensland Government Eligible containers | Environment, land and water | Queensland Government Does this mean cartons will increase about $8 to $10 retail each next month? That's 20 to 25% on a $40 carton. That might get inflation moving. And this is without all the soft drink and water containers the supermarkets sell
They have them in NSW. Drinks cost about 15c each extra, the refund is 10c. They are collected at recycle machines - the two close by here are in Woolies car parks. I guess I could buy drinks across the border in ACT and collect refunds in NSW, but it's such a trivial amount really. 50 cans, $5 in shopping credits - it doesn't buy much.
My whinges are: the up front cost is going to be more than any refund offered the inconvenience We hardly ever buy soft drinks, beer and water bottles. But for the general public? Maybe it might help reduce sugary drinks consumption, but I doubt it.
My whinge is that this policy has brought a heap of scavengers going through my garbage each week. I tried to outsmart them by taking my bins out at midnight but I caught one around the side trying to lift the lid. Had to chase him out with a broom. "Go on, git, you enterprising bogan"
Had the recycle refund for years in SA. Works very well IMO - extremely rare to see any plastic bottles around. Mind you it's at a cost that we ultimately pay - but refund (most of it) if we do the right thing and recycle.
Our local bottle recycler is known as the bogan ATM. People form long queues to cash in their trolley loads - and sometimes ute loads.
It sucks in NSW - have to return the uncrushed cans/bottles to the collection point so they get the credit from the can or container supplier. Who cares where the container came from? I sure don't. I can fill a garbage bag with a few hundred crushed cans or only 1/4 of that for uncrushed items. Bureaucratic BS.
At my local woolies there's always a queue of people wanting to use the recycling facility. It doesnt matter what day or time of night, I've never failed to see the queue. I don't think the bottles can be read by the machine quick enough. I also think the bottle return recycling facilities need to be more widespread, I don't know of any other facilities located anywhere else nearby. This facility is very large and seems to take up multiple car spaces in the car park of the supermarket. The car park is an open air car park too and people return bottles exposed to all sorts of weather conditions. I've never used it as there is always that line. Now in Germany, there are bottle return machines inside pretty much all supermarkets. They are the size of perhaps a clothing bin. That's convenient.
It’s such a slow process half of the beer bottles won’t scan first go and to make it worthwhile you need to save a huge amount of bottles before you go. Also the issue of not being able to do cans and bottles at the same time, though some inconsiderate people decide to and just move between the 2 machines and screw up the whole line.
We've always recycled responsibly with our council collection Now all that's happened is that we pay more and Govco get more gst and income tax
As a kid we used to go collecting bottles when we were trying to raise money for our sporting club etc. There was always a couple of parents that would have trailers or a small truck and we would just run down all the streets knocking on doors collecting bottles, most people were quite generous to donate ,some places would have cartons and cartons of empty king browns,although the fanta and coke bottles were worth more.
My gym instructor lives at Emerton, somewhere near the shops & he complains of scavengers knocking over bins & making a huge mess, looking for cans & bottles.
