By Margaret Maccoll
Living without plastic bags and the benefits to be gained from cashing in on a container refund scheme will be on the agenda of a forum organised by Noosa MP Glen Elmes on Tuesday 19 September.
Hosted by Toby Hutcheon of Boomerang Alliance the forum follows the passing of State Government legislation last week to ban single-use plastic bags and introduce a container refund scheme (CRS) with the law to become effective from July 2018.
Toby said South Australia had the CRS for the past 40 years with groups benefitting from the proceeds. He said the SA Scout movement gained about $2.8 million a year from the scheme.
“It means about $60 million for the community sector,” he said.
Toby said CRS provided a real opportunity for organisations to make some money.
He said if organisations had a base like a clubhouse they could set up a cage for collecting cans and bottles and then would need to rely on members of the community to donate them rather than obtain the refund themselves.
“In Redlands last year, an MP organised a competition between schools to collect cans and bottles. In one month, schools collected 100,000 cans and bottles. If every can and bottle is worth 10 cents it can be a real attraction,” he said.
Toby said the forum was one of many Boomerang Alliance would be conducting across Queensland, but the interest received from Noosa was greater than any other region.
In parliament last week, Mr Elmes praised both the Noosa community for its passion to protect its environment and the achievement of bipartisan support for the legislation.
“While we trail other states and many countries around the world, this legislation will not only achieve obvious environmental outcomes; it will arrest a staggering acceptance that waste is an unavoidable by-product of living in the 21st century,” he said.
The forum will be held at The J in Noosaville on Tuesday 19 September at 5pm.
