Industry offers no solutions to glass recycling crisis.

press release: CommunityAction for People and Planet

5/12/2005 for immediate release

The Packaging Council’s John Webber, and Kate O’Neill from Lion Breweries shouldn’t oppose our bottle deposit proposal if they haven’t got any better ideas about how to solve the country’s glass recycling crisis, say Motueka community and environment group, CommunityAction for People and Planet,

“Importing single use bottles from overseas that we can’t recycle isn’t ecologically or economically sustainable. ” Said CommunityAction coordinator Duncan Eddy, responding to claims from Mr Webber and Ms O’Neill in Saturday’s Timaru Herald.

“Industry are at a loss about what to do about growing glass mountains around the country. It’s time they looked to countries which operate effective bottle deposit and reuse programs.”

“ Europe offers numerous examples, and Canada’s beer industry prefers refillable bottles because they’re the least-expensive packaging option. Excellent bottle return rates mean each bottle produced is used many times over, cutting production costs, resource usage, and waste.”

“Bottle deposits, linked to bottle washing and reuse, effectively reduces waste and offers individuals a small financial incentive for doing their bit.” Said Mr Eddy.

CommunityAction for People and Planet’s ‘Bring Back the Bottle Deposits’ petition has received widespread public support in the Nelson and Tasman districts , and backing from the Nelson City Council’s policy committee. We’re now encouraging other regional authorities to support this proposal.

ENDS

www.communityaction.net.nz

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