Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett has welcomed an announcement that a Container Deposit Scheme would be introduced to clean up our beaches, parks and public areas.
Mr Bennett said he was pleased to see the Palaszczuk Government had finally been pressured into introducing the litter-busing recycling initiative, which would comment in 2018.
“I’ve personally put a lot of groundwork into ensuring Queensland was brought into line with other states across Australia to address the increasing cans and bottles littering our land and waterways,” he said.
“The introduction of a container deposit scheme will no doubt result in less visual pollution and has the potential to create hundreds of jobs across Queensland in the recycling sector.
“This is a great win for the environment across our great state and I know it will help to keep our local region litter-free.”
Mr Bennett said the scheme would be aligned with New South Wales, where people can take empty drink containers to a collection depot or drop off in a reverse vending machine to receive a 10-cent refund.
He said there was substantial support for the container deposit scheme to be introduced in the state.
“In states where a Container Deposit Scheme has been introduced, more than 80 per cent of consumers return containers and a 2015 Newspoll showed 85 per cent of Queenslanders supported the scheme,” Mr Bennett said.
“The index shows our litter rate is 41 per cent higher than the national average, with 72 items of litter per 1000 m2, and we should be doing everything we can to clean up Queensland and put some real pride back into our state.”
ENDS.
22 July 2016