| Name of Program |
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Amendment Bill 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Law Summary |
"Objects of the bill are-
(a) establish a cost effective container deposit scheme to assist the beverage industry in reducing and dealing with waste generated by beverage product packaging; and (b) promote the recovery, reuse and recycling of empty beverage containers." [1] |
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| Date Implemented | June 30 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beverages Covered |
Beverages in the following containers that are ≥150mL or ≤3L [2]:
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Beverages Not Covered |
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| Amount of Deposit |
10¢ AUD |
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| Fees and Taxes |
Beverage suppliers pay EFC administrative costs, a "network fee" for the Network Operator, and a "Compliance fee", which change monthly. This is sent out in the EFC's monthly Supplier Newsletters. [3] |
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| Unclaimed Deposts | N/A; producers are charged a "producer fee" based on the number of containers returned versus revenue generated from the sale of material. [4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Program Success |
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More Information
The ACT CDS operates as a ‘partnership’ between the Government and the beverage container industry:
- The Scheme Coordinator, Exchange for Change, manages scheme finances and auditing.
- The Network Operator, Re.Turn It, manages the network of collection points. There is currently only one Network Operator, although other operators are not precluded from the ACT CDS.
- Government, manages compliance with the legislation along with instruments and documents made within the legislative framework. [9]
The collection network is predominantly manual depot-based, with a government preference for ‘face-to-face’ drop off facilities, replicating the South Australian scheme, as well as charity sector shop drop offs and other social enterprise involvement. There are currently 19 collection points, with three being depots with cash refunds for consumers. Two of these depots have automated counting. The other collection points are "bag-drop" collection points, supermarkets, a community group, and charity stores. Curbside redemption is also eligible, with the 10-cent refund shared between the government and the Material Recovery Facility operator.
Consumers may leave eligible containers as part of their general curbside recycling; if they do so, material recovery facility (MRF) operators may make a claim for the 10¢ refund for each container collected through curbside collection bins. MRF operators are audited by Exchange for Change at least quarterly.
The ACT deposit scheme is highly successful, with over 181 million containers being returned through the 19 collection points, as of June 2022. [10]
Footnotes
[1] Waste Management and Resource Recovery Amendment Bill 2017 (ACT).
[2] "Eligible Containers." ACT Container Deposit Scheme.
[3] "Scheme Payments and Contribution Methodology." Exchange for Change AU. 2016.
[4] "Global Deposit Book 2020: An Overview of Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers." Reloop Inc. December 15 2020.
[5] 2018-19 ACT CDS Annual Statutory Report. Exchange for Change AU. 2019.
[6] 2019-20 ACT CDS Annual Statutory Report. Exchange for Change AU. 2020.
[7] 2020-21 ACT CDS Annual Statutory Report. Exchange for Change AU. 2021.
[8] 2021-22 ACT CDS Annual Statutory Report. Exchange for Change AU. 2022.
[9] Personal communication from Alex Taylor, Director of Waste Regulation, Australian Capital Territory Government, January 20 2020.
[10] "ACT Container Deposit Scheme celebrates recycling milestone on 4th birthday." Exchange for Change. The National Tribune. June 30 2022.
Last Updated on February 2 2022.