WA Govt is reviewing container deposit legislation (CDL) for litter management and recycling, despite initial advice against it. They are examining successful CDL schemes in South Australia and Germany to assess potential implementation in WA.

AnsweredQoN 824Legislative Assembly
Asked
17 June 2003
Portfolio
Environment and Heritage

QuestionView source ↗

Can the minister please advise what is the Government’s position on container deposit legislation, and what action is being taken to ensure that container deposit legislation is properly considered as a potential option for managing litter and improving recycling rates for beverage containers? Dr J.M. EDWARDS

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for the question. The Western Australian Labor Party made a commitment to review whether it would be worthwhile to consider introducing container deposit legislation for this State. The Waste Management Board reviewed that policy and advised me recently that container deposit legislation would not be terribly helpful. However, since that time I have had the opportunity to meet with the South Australian Minister for Environment and Conservation and have heard a presentation from the South Australian environment department. Container deposit legislation works extremely well in that State. Some 95 per cent of containers are returned. The scheme has been extended to other beverage containers from January this year. These issues are being considered nationally. I have asked the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure that Western Australia participates and contributes to that process. The department will examine the other trials that are being conducted to find out whether it would be appropriate to implement them in Western Australia. For instance, container deposit legislation was introduced in Germany in January, and is working in conjunction with its kerbside recycling collection. We have an opportunity to examine further container deposit legislation, to cut down on litter and to improve recycling. By building on the work done in Germany by integrating container collections with kerbside recycling, we can achieve a win-win situation and provide a much better outcome for our environment.
Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: I thank the member for the question. The Western Australian Labor Party made a commitment to review whether it would be worthwhile to consider introducing container deposit legislation for this State. The Waste Management Board reviewed that policy and advised me recently that container deposit legislation would not be terribly helpful. However, since that time I have had the opportunity to meet with the South Australian Minister for Environment and Conservation and have heard a presentation from the South Australian environment department. Container deposit legislation works extremely well in that State. Some 95 per cent of containers are returned. The scheme has been extended to other beverage containers from January this year. These issues are being considered nationally. I have asked the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure that Western Australia participates and contributes to that process. The department will examine the other trials that are being conducted to find out whether it would be appropriate to implement them in Western Australia. For instance, container deposit legislation was introduced in Germany in January, and is working in conjunction with its kerbside recycling collection. We have an opportunity to examine further container deposit legislation, to cut down on litter and to improve recycling. By building on the work done in Germany by integrating container collections with kerbside recycling, we can achieve a win-win situation and provide a much better outcome for our environment.
I thank the member for the question. The Western Australian Labor Party made a commitment to review whether it would be worthwhile to consider introducing container deposit legislation for this State. The Waste Management Board reviewed that policy and advised me recently that container deposit legislation would not be terribly helpful. However, since that time I have had the opportunity to meet with the South Australian Minister for Environment and Conservation and have heard a presentation from the South Australian environment department. Container deposit legislation works extremely well in that State. Some 95 per cent of containers are returned. The scheme has been extended to other beverage containers from January this year. These issues are being considered nationally. I have asked the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure that Western Australia participates and contributes to that process. The department will examine the other trials that are being conducted to find out whether it would be appropriate to implement them in Western Australia. For instance, container deposit legislation was introduced in Germany in January, and is working in conjunction with its kerbside recycling collection. We have an opportunity to examine further container deposit legislation, to cut down on litter and to improve recycling. By building on the work done in Germany by integrating container collections with kerbside recycling, we can achieve a win-win situation and provide a much better outcome for our environment.
These issues are being considered nationally. I have asked the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure that Western Australia participates and contributes to that process. The department will examine the other trials that are being conducted to find out whether it would be appropriate to implement them in Western Australia. For instance, container deposit legislation was introduced in Germany in January, and is working in conjunction with its kerbside recycling collection. We have an opportunity to examine further container deposit legislation, to cut down on litter and to improve recycling. By building on the work done in Germany by integrating container collections with kerbside recycling, we can achieve a win-win situation and provide a much better outcome for our environment.

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