The City of Sydney and its lord mayor, Clover Moore, are strong supporters of the container deposit scheme. Around 15 billion bottles and cans are consumed every year in Australia. Fewer than half of these are recycled. The other 7.5 billion or so end up either in landfill or littered.
It’s a problem that The City of Sydney is trying to solve. “Container deposit schemes significantly increase recycling, reduce waste, and protect wildlife and the environment from plastic pollution,” Clover Moore stated.
The City is trialling reward for recycling vending machines in two sites in Sydney this month. And to promote its support for the container deposit scheme it also erected a giant 10 cent coin sculpture outside Customs House near Circular Quay.
“We’re taking what action we can to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, but will continue to lobby state and federal governments for reform on this issue,” Moore promised.
The sculpture was made by Paper Moose productions. It is made with Thankyou Water bottles, the company founded to sell bottled water (and now a range of natural foods) in order to solve drinking water shortages in developing countries. The rest of the structure is steel, wood, and LED lighting for a low-energy night-time display.
"We're excited to be part of a great initiative and proud to be working alongside such a progressive council. We're also currently working with City of Sydney on a Zero Waste campaign, using recyclables as puppets to promote more effective recycling,” Reese Geronimo from Paper Moose stated.
What’s behind the City of Sydney promotion? A study by the Local Government Association of NSW found that councils could save up to $183 million under a National Container Deposit scheme. Recycling rates are more than 90% in states that have introduced container deposits, double the rate in NSW.
“There can be no question – container deposit schemes significantly increase recycling, reduce waste and protect wildlife and the environment. What we’re trying to do is to send a message to the NSW government to do what the Northern Territory and the South Australian governments have already done, because there are so many benefits of having a container deposit scheme," stated City of Sydney director of operations, Garry Harding.
Jeff Angel from the Total Environment Centre and leader of the Boomerang Alliance and Ian Kiernan from Clean Up Australia are also advocating for the introduction of a container deposit scheme in NSW.
