Bottle Deposit Petition Presented to Tasman Council

3 November 2005. for immediate release.

Press release
CommunityAction for people and planet

Tasman District Councillors were presented with a 2033 strong local petition today, calling on Tasman District and Nelson City Councils to advocate on a national level for a return to bottle deposits as a sustainable way of reducing glass waste and litter.

“The petition was launched at ecofest, and the subsequent flood of support for this simple proposal exceeded our expectations. A month later, having over 1200 confirmed signatures, we felt the point had been made and called for remaining forms to be returned. The public support is out there. Now the ball is in council's court” said Duncan Eddy, from Motueka Community group CommunityAction for People and Planet, presenting the petition at the TDC public forum this morning.

“This country’s glass recycling capacity has been reached. It’s costing us enviromentally and economically . This year we’ve already sent over 16,000 tonnes of recycled glass to Australia. Something needs to be done. Bottle deposits, linked to bottle washing and reuse, offers a commonsense solution.”

“ Glass makes up nearly half of all items placed in local recycling bins. Unfortunately, at the moment this just creates headaches for local authorities, council employees and contractors.”

“Consumer deposit legislation is a central government responsibility, but ratepayers carry the burden of the current uneconomic and innefficient system. We want our councillors to encourage Local Government NZ and Local Government and Environment Ministers to support this sustainable waste reduction measure.”

The petition will be presented to Nelson City Councillors in the near future.

ENDS

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