Container deposit laws see South Australians slugged up to 20c more

Mark Kenny
August 05, 2012
AdelaideNow

SOUTH Australian consumers pay at least 20c more for some beer, soft drink and bottled water because of container deposit legislation, research shows.

The higher prices are being used as an argument against a national container deposit scheme which could be agreed to by state and federal governments this month.

Beverages companies say a national scheme would be costly to run and would send prices higher for ordinary families.

However, new research conducted by the Boomerang Alliance – a peak body of environment groups committed to reducing waste – suggests that three of the six main beverage companies are using SA and NT container deposit schemes to charge more for popular brands such as Coca Cola, Coke Zero, and Mount Franklin water.

The study compared 20 common bottles for sale online by Coles in Adelaide, Darwin, Perth and Sydney and found the drinks cost consumers in SA and NT an average of 22c more.

Of the six big companies, Coca Cola Amatil, Lion Nathan and Schweppes were found to charge more than the extra 10c a bottle plus any handling costs associated with CDS.

Three others, Coopers, Fosters, and Diageo did not charge customers more than the deposit plus their own costs.

A comparison of prices for Adelaide and other capital cities, found the above Coca Cola Amatil brands plus its Sprite, Lift, and Diet Coke brands, were an average of 20c dearer.
Lion Nathan’s beers – XXXX, Tooheys Extra Dry, West End and Corona – came in at 18c more.

A Coca-Cola Amatil spokeswoman said the company was not profiteering from the scheme.

A spokeswoman for Lion Nathan said it had always been transparent about reflecting the full cost of container deposit schemes in its wholesale pricing.

Schweppes could not be reached for comment.

David Rowe, who cashes in bottles for the Adelaide University Rugby Club, said he was happy with the scheme because the club recouped about $1000 a year.

“For a small not-for-profit club, it’s pretty handy money and it solves the problem of getting rid of a product it would probably cost us to get rid of otherwise,” he said.