Larissa

Just an odd question for you South Australians and no-it-alls... why do we have a 5 cent refund printed on our bottles and cartons, but for SA only?
Do you get hoardes of kids queuing up with their bottles of pop for their 5 cents?
Do you end up paying slightly more than the rest of us for these things?
Or is it compensation for living in Adelaide?

Pollyana

Something that has puzzled me too! Why only SA? I imagine kids going through bins just over the border, then driving across to reclaim their cash!

foxychic

just to encourage re-cycling I think

nightnurse2

With the amount we throw in our bin, we could could be millionaires by now
Just a pity we don't live in SA.
Tracey

Pollyana

Same here, I'd gladly take them in for the 5c....better reward rate than Flybuys

Pollyana

But why only in South Australia?

mark213

South Australia have strange state rules that require refunding...
They also have odd rules over gambling and lotteries....

http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/pdf/f...egislation.pdf

Statistics kept since the introduction of CDL demonstrate its effectiveness:
■Items covered by the legislation make up a less than 4% of litter in South Australia.
■Return rates for CDL containers are very high, around 80%.Industry sources suggest that return rates for beverage containers in South Australia far exceed those in other states and territories without CDL.

In 2003, encouraged by the success of CDL, the South Australian Government extended the scheme to cover a wider range of beverages

The goal of Zero Waste SA is to eliminate waste or its disposal in landfill by encouraging South Australians to:
■reduce their consumption of resources
■reuse and recycle materials

Beverage manufacturers/distributors are required under the Environment Protection Act to seek Container Labeling Approval from the EPA. This not only ensures consumers are aware a refund is available on the container, but ensures the industry is responsible for the financial underpinning of the entire collection system.

All beverage containers subject to CDL in South Australia display approved markings that show how to claim the refund:
■‘10c refund at points of sale when sold in SA’ means that the container must be returned to a retailer who sells the beverage in that container
■‘5c refund at collection depots when sold in SA’ means that the container must be returned to a collection depot

marco121068

The current 5c refund was introduced in 1975 - and there was talk recently of increasing it by 15c per container. According to an article in the Advertiser - other State Govts are thinking about it too.

Article from the Adevertiser.

In Victoria, Liberal leader Ted Baillieu has pledged, if elected, to impose a 5c levy on drinks sold in aluminium cans, plastic and glass bottles, refundable once containers are handed in. The West Australian and Tasmanian governments are also considering implementing container deposit schemes.

northernbird

when we lived in canada we used to get money back for wine bottles, cans, beer bottles, milk cartons etc. we used to get quite a bit. it certainly encouraged recycling there.

moneypenny20

I've often wondered about this - how sad are we! My youngest asked if we could collect all our bottles etc and take them down to SA - unfortunately I think the petrol money might wipe out the bottle profits

welshpom

It's not the kids raiding the bins for 5c bottles/cans here in SA. It's usually some middle-aged tramp.
At our volunteer fire brigade we collect our bottles/cans and take them for refund. We've added hundreds of dollars to our funds over the past couple of years.
In some shopping centres, the local charity will have a bin that you can drop your bottles and cans into instead of in the general rubbish bin. We need more of these bins because it's annoying to have to carry empty containers home from the shops.

Lord Pom Percy

When l was in Adelaide l saw lots of tramps going around rubbish bins and parks picking up cans and putting them in big sacks they carry around.