www.insidewaste.com.au
ISSUE 99 | DEC/JAN 2021
The state CDS schemes move ahead but there is still ongoing tension around the design and control.
INSIDE 20 Future Directions 26 Inside Packaging 39 Circular Economy
Anatomy of a plastic packaging tax
CDS: the battle is over WHEN IN 2013, a Federal Court judge ruled that the Northern Territory’s container deposit scheme was illegal under Commonwealth law, the drawing up of the battlelines for the nation’s dominant Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) model began. Over the ensuing seven years, a struggle for the ideological and economic high-ground has played out within the industry. On one side was the model dependant on the beverage companies, which and is presently operational in South Australia, Queensland and more recently, Western Australia. While on the other, a split responsibility CDS with an independent network operator has been up and running in NSW since 2017.
Historical quirks
of Return-It which works with charity groups as part of the recycling collection system. He said that, as Australia’s largest operator of staffed depots, Return. It has been able to improve recycling outcomes by producing cleaner materials for remanufacturing, while creating thousands of new jobs.
Meaningful jobs “We’re really proud to be able to offer meaningful employment for Australians – particularly at a time like this, where we’ve seen job opportunities impacted by COVID. “And of course, this is a deposit scheme. We’re getting money back into the hands of people who recycle, along with seeing millions of dollars being raised to support local communities. Benefits like that are really maximised by Return-It – we work with local organisations and charities to ensure that each depot is tailor-made and serves its community. “By engaging with local organisations, Return-It is able to help customers raise much needed revenue, while delivering social and environmental benefits. (Continued on page 20)
Consultation on design However, there will be an exemption for producers and importers of small amounts of plastic packaging to mitigate against disproportionate administrative burdens in comparison to tax liability. This is a new tax that applies to plastic packaging produced in, or imported into, the UK, that does not contain at least 30 per cent recycled plastic. (Continued on page 22)
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In October, the balance appeared to fall in favour of the WARR industry when the Victorian government endorsed a split responsibility CDS model. That state, considered the country’s recycling leader, has since put its model to the public for consideration. WMRR chair and chief development officer at Re.Group, Garth Lamb told Inside Waste that for decades he
watched as the “battle” played out between green groups who wanted to see SA-style programs roll out nationally, and a beverage lobby that framed the programs as too expensive. “That battle is now over – the community absolutely wants CDS - but there is still some ongoing tension around scheme design and control. There are some historical quirks that also need to be fixed. “For example, people are rightly confused when their glass beer bottle is eligible, but their glass wine bottle isn’t. All beverage suppliers should be equally involved; getting wine into CDS is an obvious issue, because it causes so much confusion for people at the start of a new scheme,” he explained. Lamb said he believes that the participation of all the jurisdictions will deliver a national network of takeback facilities. “Then we should look at all the other products we could better recover through this network than we can through kerbside bins. In other jurisdictions, many operators expand the range of products they will accept over time,” he added. Lamb’s company is also the operator
AS AUSTRALIA welcomes the country’s first-ever waste legislation, the UK continues to outpace us with its imminent legislation for a new plastic packaging tax to take effect from April 2022. It is expected that this tax could have the most impact on the waste and recycling sector since the landfill tax was introduced, as it brings in indirect taxation, rather than just the Packaging Recovery Note system (a type of document that provides evidence waste packaging material has been recycled into a new product) to boost recycling. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published details of the draft legislation which will affect UK producers of plastic packaging, importers of plastic packaging, business customers of producers and importers of plastic packaging, and consumers who buy goods in plastic packaging in the UK.
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