Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the federal government should follow the lead of Victoria's Upper House and support his plan to recycle 740,000 tonnes of waste through national Container Deposit Legislation.

Yesterday afternoon, the Victorian Upper House passed a Private Members Bill from Green MLC Colleen Hartland to develop a similar scheme at a state level. The State Labor Government blocked discussion of the Bill in the Lower House.

"Unfortunately the Victorian Labor Government passed up a rare opportunity to position their state, along with South Australia, as leaders in recycling in this country. Through my Private Senator's Bill, I'm providing the federal government with a chance to get up to speed on this issue," said Senator Ludlam.

Under the Senator's Environmental Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) Bill a national scheme for recycling the 10 billion drinks containers Australians throw away each year will be established. A 10c returnable deposit will be provided on all drink bottles, cans and cartons.

"This is an initiative that will reduce waste, slash council rates and create hundreds of green jobs by encouraging consumers to recycle," said Senator Ludlam.

Senator Ludlam made the comments, while local councillors gathered in Canberra for the annual ALGA conference:

"While the parliament seems to have been fixated on fake emails and utes, councillors from across the country have been in Canberra to find solutions to local problems. I'm sure they will be relieved to see the Victorian Upper House addressing some of the issues of importance to rate payers - like waste and job creation. I hope the Federal Government takes note," said Senator Ludlam.

Some of the key benefits of Senator Ludlam's scheme include:

- Savings to rate payers of over $59.8 million a year
- Raising up to $90 million in government revenue
- Creating hundreds of green jobs
- Decreasing litter by 12-15%
- Increasing recycling of drink containers from 50% to 80%
- Diverting more than 740,000 tonnes from landfill
- Reducing national greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 each year - the equivalent of switching 197,000 homes to renewable energy
- Improving air quality to the equivalent of taking 140,000 cars off the roads