Foodshare scraps CDS involvement

BENDIGO Foodshare is no longer participating in the state’s Container Deposit Scheme as a refund point, leaving only two depots operating in the town.

Announced last week, chair of Bendigo Foodshare, Sue Clarke, said the closure was a sign of the potential success of the CDS.

“Honestly we were overwhelmed, and we hadn’t expected that to be occurring so early,” she said.

Up to 50,000 containers were processed during the two months Bendigo Foodshare operated the over-the-counter depot from their warehouse in Long Gully.

“It does prove that the community really does want to recycle and part of the reason we took it on was in a way two-fold, one was to fund our food relief programs because we do rely very much on community donations and sponsorship and events,” Ms Clarke said.

“It also met our other criteria which is impact on the environment, so to us it was a good fit.”

The collection bins provided to Bendigo Foodshare by CDS zone operator for Northern Victoria, Visy, would fill up within 40 minutes, after which volunteers would have to turn people away.

“Unfortunately for us that was not tenable,” Ms Clarke said.

“Also the fact that Visy weren’t able to pick up and return new containers within the window that we expected, which was at least twice a week, so it came to the point where it was not safe.”

Ms Clarke said they would consider restarting the depot later this year with Visy, but at present weren’t able to continue.

“I think the demand right across rural Victoria surprised them and they weren’t able to return the containers, the empty containers [collection bins] that we needed,” she said.

Depots receive a processing fee for each container recycled through their service and for Foodshare this revenue went towards funding their programs.

Ms Clarke said people wanting to support Foodshare could nominate the organisation as recipient of the 10c per item refund fee when they recycle at other depots.

Envirobank still runs two depots in the area, one in East Bendigo and one in Kangaroo Flat.

Visy’s general manager of Container Deposit Scheme, Tim O’Donnell, said the company was continuing to work with local business and community groups to meet demand.

“Bendigo has seen some of the highest CDS refund rates across the state, returning over 3.7 million containers since November,” he said.

“We’re experiencing higher than anticipated container return rates, as people become aware of the scheme and consume more beverages during the festive season.”