ISSUE 114 | JUN/JUL 2023
30 Disaster waste 32 Why definitions matter 38 NPRS: Yay or Nay?
Reset needed for a brighter future By Richard Kirkman
The panel from left to right: Shawn Fraser, GM operations Container for Change; Danielle Smalley, CEO Exchange for Change; Alex Young, director container deposit scheme NSW EPA; Robert Kelman, director Reloop; and Michelle Mandl, GM communications, customer and engagement TOMRA Cleanaway.
How to up the return rates for CDS • making it a complement to kerbside
By Inside Waste
with the way the scheme has been implemented. The CEO of Exchange for Change answers to a board made up of some of the biggest beverage manufacturers in Australia including Coopers Brewery, Coca-Cola, Asahi and Lion. While happy with the current scheme in terms of its remit, she believes there is room for improvement, especially when it comes to harmonisation among the states. “For suppliers, I think in the interest of continuous improvement, we need to make it easier for them to participate,” she said. “There are slight differences in all jurisdictions in terms of what’s eligible. If you are a supplier of beverages in all the different jurisdictions, you’ve got to report your volumes in different portals. You also get different invoices and there’s different pricing. For suppliers, that’s incredibly frustrating. Also, I’ll say that the announcement of wine bottles [being introduced to the scheme] in one state, without all states going in, has not sent a very strong message around the commitment to harmonisation.” (Continued on page 21)
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
WITH most states and territories having, or about to have, a container deposit scheme (CDS) in place, is it time to turn our attention to honing the system? Should spirit and wine bottles be added? All glassware for that matter? What about upping the refund rate? Is there enough infrastructure to handle volumes? These and a few other subjects were discussed at a panel during the Waste 2023 Conference held at Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales. On hand were Robert Kelman, director Reloop; Michelle Mandl, general manager communications, customer, and engagement from TOMRA Cleanaway; Danielle Smalley, CEO of Exchange for Change; Alex Young, director, container deposit scheme, NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Shaun Fraser, general manager – operations, Container Exchange. When the NSW CDS was first mooted, objectives identified to be fulfilled included: • reducing container litter; • making it a producer responsibility model;
collections; • making it cost effective – something that wouldn’t be costly to the NSW government; and • having a tracking system applied so invested parties could see how successful, or not, the scheme was being implemented. Have those objectives been met? “I would say, in NSW yes,” said the EPA’s Young. “That’s my opinion, but it’s also the proof in the pudding. If we look at the data that we have – and we do have very good data out of the scheme – what we know is that we are tracking well. We’ve got over 600 return points, which is significantly more than the minimum required in the legislation. We’ve collected more than 9.3 billion containers, so we’re seeing good collection rates, and we’ve reduced litter by 53 per cent.” Young also points out that the redemption rate is double that from the kerbside recovery, which was the main collection method before the implementation of the scheme. Danielle Smalley is also happy
THREE years ago, I landed on these shores fresh from working for more than 25 years for the utilities sector in Northern Europe. I have seen many positive changes in the resource recovery landscape since I arrived, but there remains, in my opinion, the need to pivot the ambition of the circular economy supply chain, and this will mean change for all those involved. But this change will create a massive opportunity for commercial growth and environmental gains. A recent article published in Inside Waste caught my eye, because it unjustly criticised the government and Environment Protection Agency (EPA), who have in recent times demonstrated a bold shift in the right direction. I think our sector needs to cease this negative public narrative and focus its efforts solely on collaboration with governments, co-design with regulators, and cohabitation of the environmental space with campaigners – because we are all on the same side and want the same outcomes. It is absurd to criticise strong government leadership and progressive EPA policy when it’s focused on delivery of the environmental infrastructure that the industry agrees is needed. As an example, the NSW policy around energy from waste (EfW) plants will allow NSW to get moving on these complex projects now. (Continued on page 26)
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