New figures showing Western Australians are the worst litterers in the nation once again demonstrate the need for a container deposits system in WA, the Greens said today.

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said Keep Australia Beautiful's National Litter Index for 2012-13 showed the volume of litter in Western Australia was 71 per cent above the national average, but could be greatly reduced by adopting a South Australian-style cash for containers system.

The Australian Greens have called for a Senate inquiry into beverage industry profiteering in container deposit schemes operating in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
 

The ACIL Tasman report into container recycling commissioned by the Food and Grocery Council is a startling expose into how badly the beverage industry is ripping off Northern Territorians, the greens said today.

Reporting this morning demonstrates why the popular 10c National Container Deposit scheme proposed by the Greens is a better model than the industry-run model in the NT which has seen industry profiting at the expense of the community.

The Government should resist the campaign from vested interests and support the Greens bill for a national container deposit scheme to double beverage container recycling, the Australian Greens said today.

"It's disappointing to see large corporations waging a rear-guard misinformation campaign to kill off a scheme that enjoys huge community support," said Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam.

Every day the Commonwealth delays the introduction of a national container deposits system an extra nine million recyclable containers go into landfill, the Greens said today, urging the Government and Opposition to support cash for containers legislation in the Senate.

Australian Greens waste management spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the overwhelming evidence supports the nation-wide introduction of a South Australian-style container deposit system.

Australians use and throw away about 1.4 million beverage containers an hour, and less than half are recycled. Tomorrow will provide an opportunity for the Government show they are prepared to put an end to this extraordinary waste of resources.

On the eve of the meeting of the Federal, State and Territory environment ministers, the Australian Greens have urged the Government to commit to introducing a national container deposit system rather than subjecting the proposal to yet another review.

The Australian and Northern Territory Greens have expressed alarm at reports Coca Cola Amatil is threatening the NT Government in a bid to axe the proposed container deposit scheme.

Australian Greens sustainable cities spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said reports that Coca Cola Amatil told the NT Government they would help fund the Opposition's election campaign unless Labor dropped container deposits were "profoundly disturbing".

The WA Government’s land fill levy dilemma could be solved by introducing container deposit legislation, Australian Greens’ Sustainable Cities Spokesperson Scott Ludlam says.
“CDL involves placing a small returnable deposit, of say, 10 cents, on containers, thus providing an incentive to customers to return the items to a recycling station,” Senator Ludlam said.

“South Australia has been doing this for years and I have introduced a Bill to do this nationally.