The Kiwi Bottle Drive, the community campaign advocating for a beverage container return scheme (CRS), is urging the Government to re-prioritise the policy following last week’s decision to put it on hold.

“After all the progress, and all the research that has gone into developing a CRS for Aotearoa, it was devastating to hear this popular and much-needed policy has gone on the back-burner” said Olga Darkadaki, Campaigner at the Kiwi Bottle Drive.

Deposit return schemes for drinks - where consumers pay a deposit when they buy a beverage that is redeemed when returned to a retailer or recycling centre - are a popular and uncontentious policy. A consumer survey by Kantar/Consumer Link in September 2022 showed 78% of those surveyed support a CRS. Support was so strong that consumers thought the deposit should be set at a higher amount (30c) than the Government’s proposed 20c.

“A CRS was de-prioritised based on the argument that it will increase costs to households during the cost of living crisis, but what that misses is that our current recycling system costs more per container than a CRS would, and delivers worse outcomes” says Darkadaki.

“Only 45% of beverage containers are being recovered in New Zealand and the other 55% end up as landfill or litter. A CRS could lift recovery rates to 85-90% and shift the costs of recovery onto producers and consumers where it belongs, rather than have councils and ratepayers picking up the bill.”

The Kiwi Bottle Drive has drafted a letter template, outlining the key reasons why a CRS is a priority and is encouraging the public to send their own email to the Prime Minister.

“It’s a no-brainer. The support and research is there. Now is not the time to be back-tracking on policies that are quick wins for the people and the planet.”

To download the template head to www.kiwibottledrive.nz and follow the instructions.

Notes:

2022 Consumer Survey: https://www.reloopplatform.org/aotearoa-new-zealand-consumer-polling-container-return-scheme-briefing/

© Scoop Media