Container deposit legislation in Australia

Container deposit legislation (CDL) also known as a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) is in place in the Australian state of South Australia and the territory of the Northern Territory, and was used in the state of Victoria many years ago but was rescinded. New South Wales has announced plans to start a scheme by December 1 2017. Queensland has also announced it will pursue a scheme in partnership with NSW for implementation by July 1 2018. Western Australia has also announced plans for a scheme in 2018 as well.

Attempts to introduce similar legislation in other states have been unsuccessful to date. A Newspoll survey found a majority of people in Australia support a deposit scheme, and a national scheme has also been proposed. The NSW scheme has been opposed by companies that sell drinks in containers.

The value of deposits and the scope of their application have been influenced by the Australian federal constitution's guarantee of free trade between the states. The defining case in this issue was the attempt to introduce a differential between reusable and recyclable bottle deposits. The issue was taken to the High Court of Australia in the Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia court case. State based schemes need to be exempted from the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act which guarantees products can be sold in any jurisdiction without requiring any special labelling. This formed the basis of legal action against the Northern Territories' scheme until an exemption was granted. South Australia, Northern Territory and soon New South Wales is offering 10c to anyone who donates an empty container.

The ACT government has always been supportive of container deposit legislation, but has never acted alone due to its relatively small size and being inside the much larger state of NSW. They have always said if NSW adopts a scheme they will follow suit. This is likely to become a reality in 2017 as NSW has now officially declared a CDS will be implemented by December 2017.

The New South Wales government has indicated it wishes to push ahead with a container deposit scheme in 2015 as part of a raft of new policies aimed at protecting the environment and doing more to prevent litter and pollution entering the state's rivers, oceans, and parks. The scheme has strong backing from the public, various politicians, NSW councils, and various environmental groups such as Cleanup Australia, Boomerang Alliance, and Total Environment Centre.

...
Wikipedia