Analysis finds litter scheme benefits exaggerated

ANTHONY KLAN
April 20, 2018
The Australian

The NSW government has exaggerated by more than fourfold the benefits of its flawed anti-litter container deposit scheme and analysis shows consumers are being charged more than $5 for every can and bottle that does not become public litter each year.

In selling its Return and Earn 10c can and bottle deposit scheme to the public, the NSW government repeatedly said cans and bottles make up 44 per cent of the public “litter stream” and the scheme plans to reduce by 25 per cent the number of cans and bottles littering public spaces.

However, in coming to that 44 per cent figure, the government refers to the “volume” of empty cans and bottles as a proportion of the volume of all littered items, rather than the number of bottles and cans as a proportion of the number of all littered items.

Given empty bottles and cans are full of air, this selective use of figures substantially exaggerates the benefits of the scheme.

In its NSW Litter Prevention Strategy 2017-20, the NSW government sets out its litter forecasts, which are based on figures calculated by Keep Australia Beautiful as part of its “national litter index”.

The figures state that for a given area, 43 per cent of litter “by volume” are bottles and cans that are of the type and size — when they were manufactured — that can be taken to Return and Earn collection points for 10c per item.

However, on the following page of the report it breaks down littered items by number.

The Keep Australia Beautiful figures show that just 9 per cent of all items of public litter in NSW are bottles and cans (of the type, when in good condition, that are accepted by Return & Earn), less than takeaway containers, which make up 12 per cent of all litter. 

If the NSW government is successful in reducing the number of cans and bottles entering the litter stream by 25 per cent, that means cans and bottles will comprise 6.75 per cent of all public litter, instead of 9 per cent. That is a reduction in the overall number of pieces entering the public “litter stream” each year of 2.25 per cent.

Under the Return and Earn scheme, all cans, plastic and glass bottles of 375ml are accepted. Wine and milk bottles are not.

The Keep Australia Beautiful figures state “miscellaneous” items including “nappies, paper bags and clothing items” comprise 12 per cent of littered items while “cigarettes (including packaging)” make up 33 per cent.

Even stripping out the cigarette litter, given it is mostly butts which are relatively small, a 25 per cent reduction in cans and bottle litter still only translates to a 3.36 per cent reduction in public litter.

The NSW government said 160 million bottles and cans end up as litter every year in the state, costing the state governments and councils about $162m a year to clean up. 

A 25 per cent reduction in the cost of picking up bottles and cans would be a government saving of $40.5m a year. 

A NSW Environment Protection Authority spokeswoman said the scheme offered “non-financial benefits” such as “reduced environmental impact”, and the Keep Australia Beautiful figures did not include cans and bottles that ended up in waterways.