Dear Beagle Editor, I am unsure if you want to publish a story about the NSW container scheme? While initially I was excited and happy about this. There is just so much waste, glass and plastic being thrown away, contaminating land and sea, something has to be done to reduce this. I was up for it. But the reality in the Eurobodalla is pretty bad, no, sorry, very pathetic! A case of beer in many cases has gone up by $4. Because of the scheme the costs are being passed onto for beer and soft drink. Pubs say the bottle beer they buy comes with container deposit charge of more than $3 per carton and I have to pay it even though I don't get to keep the bottle for MY refund. So do they refund it and they get the money? The shire is paying more for their drinks at every level but not everyone is and they can’t get refunds because we haven’t got the collection points My local cafe has put up the cost of a bottled drink by 40 cents. I would be willing to wear the difference if I could actually return the bloody bottles! As far as I can tell, the Moruya return station, the one where all the councilors and politicians stood against to have their photo's taken to look good is still the only fully operational one in the whole shire! Was that only so the politicians could get their publicity photo? For me to return any bottles, I would have to do a return trip of 50 minutes, which would cost more in fuel than what I would gain in my bottle return! Why are there no bottle return areas in Durras, Bodalla, Malua Bay or anywhere else? All of the pubs, all of the cafes and all of the homes all paying more but not getting the refunds. That is a nice little profit maker for the companies who subsidise the system by charging more because they have to pay the refund and then... don't pay because the system os too difficult in regional areas with high transport costs to be financially worth while. And what happens to all the eligible containers that go out in the recycling - does Council get that money. The local mainstream media this week tell us how many containers have been returned. Moruya 300,000 and Narooma 150,000 - 450,000 containers divided by 40,000 people equals 10 per person since the scheme begun - have you returned your 10 or did you just pay the increased fee and put your container in the recycling and not redeem your credit? ? Do the recyclers now get the money? At $1.40 per litre to drive 10kms you will need to have 28 eligible containers to return before you break even - with a limit of 100 in Batemans Bay and Narooma at best you can only return 72 which will return $7.20 however for those containers you have already paid $7.20 minimum more than you would have before the scheme. And back then you would have just placed it in recycling as you always did. Have the irresponsible who dump their rubbish including bottles and cans stopped their littering to now take their containers for a refund? NO Does everyone in the community now line up to get refunds on the bottles and cans that they have already paid the refund amount for? NO Do the companies required to pay the refund pay out all the refunds due? NO If they pay out 10c per container to the Government and it isn't returned who gets the 10c? Has the whole community ended up paying for a feel good campaign that has cost them considerably with little environmental benefit - NOT so far. As a tradie, I was asked by holiday makers in this week where they could return containers. They were gobsmacked, that they would have to take a 40 minute drive to do this! Regards Paul Name and address supplied Editors Note: There are three return points across the Eurobodalla listed below.
Euro Carwash 19 Vesper Street Batemans Bay, NSW, 2536 Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9am to 4pm, Saturday to Sunday: 9am to 2pm Type of collection point: Over-the-counter Maximum number of containers per transaction: 100 • After verifying the eligibility of containers, the collection point operator will provide a refund of the 10 cents per container. Woolworths Moruya 61-63 Queen Street Moruya NSW 2537 Opening hours: 7am to 10pm, 7 days a week Type of collection point: Reverse vending machine • Accept up to 500 containers per transaction • Provide refunds in three ways:1) a voucher to be redeemed at a participating retailer 2) a direct payment to your bank via PayPal 3) donation to one of the charities shown on the machine's screen Woolworths Narooma 185 Princes Hwy Narooma, NSW, 2546 Type of collection point: Reverse vending machine Maximum number of containers per transaction: 100 • Accept up to 100 containers per transaction • Provide refunds in three ways:1) a voucher to be redeemed at a participating retailer 2) a direct payment to your bank via PayPal 3) donation to one of the charities shown on the machine's screen
