SINCE its launch last November, the Container Deposit Scheme has seen communities throughout the state support the recycling program.<\/p>\n
According to the Victorian State Government, at least 100 million containers have been recycled statewide, resulting in refunds of up to $10 million.<\/p>\n
A list of the top 10 highest yielding collection points in regional Victoria included Bendigo\u2019s two sites, which Premier Jacinta Allan said is indicative of the scheme\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does speak to there\u2019s huge demand in our community and there are other collection points that continue to be available in and around the Bendigo community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Interest in the CDS in the region is high with the Envirobank sites in Kangaroo Flat and East Bendigo processing a combined 3.8 million containers, yet out of 400 refund points in Victoria only two are located in Bendigo.<\/p>\n
The recent closure of Bendigo Foodshare\u2019s over the counter refund point has led some to question the management of the CDS rollout in Northern Victoria by zone operator Visy.<\/p>\n
Upper house Northern Victoria MP Gaelle Broad said it was disappointing that after two months one of Bendigo\u2019s collection points had already closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisy needs to look at the demand and look at the response in regional Victoria and make sure there\u2019s the appropriate resources in place for the scheme to run effectively,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to maintain it, they\u2019ve got to be accessible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, just myself going to Bendigo East, it\u2019s in an industrial area kind of near Bendigo Airport so I think for most families it would be an extra trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to put them in high profile locations as well to encourage people to make it part of their every day and I think that\u2019s something that certainly needs to be looked at for Bendigo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The State government agreement with VicReturn, the organisation that manages the CDS in Victoria, requires that in regional populations there needs to be one site per 14,500 people.<\/p>\n
Minister for Environment, Steve Dimopoulous, said by the end of the CDS rollout in August, Bendigo will end up with more sites than required.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will end up I reckon, better than the requirement of one site per 14,500 residents, particularly for Bendigo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With plans for a total of 600 sites across the state by the end of the 10-month rollout, Mr Dimopoulous said early hiccups were not an indicator of the scheme\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you start this scheme, given you\u2019ve got over the counter sites, small businesses, standalone sites, it\u2019s really hard to get every site to match the demand of that community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In contrast to Bendigo\u2019s two sites, Ballarat, a city with a similar population, has two depots operating as well as several automated reverse-vending machines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s reasonable to take one point in the timeline of a 10-month rollout and compare Bendigo and Ballarat, I think what\u2019s important is to see where we end up in August this year,\u201d Mr Dimopoulous said.<\/p>\n
Visy and VicReturn were contacted for comment on this story but did not respond by the time of publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SINCE its launch last November, the Container Deposit Scheme has seen communities throughout the state support the recycling program. According to the Victorian State Government, at least 100 million containers have been recycled statewide, resulting in refunds of up to $10 million. A list of the top 10 highest yielding collection points in regional Victoria […]<\/p>\n