Anglican Advocacy joins call to bring back bottle deposit system

30 May 2019

Anglican Advocacy has teamed up with The Kiwi Bottle Drive to offer Wellington commuters ‘cash for trash’ as part of a call for the government to re-establish a bottle deposit system, whereby refunds are given for beverage containers.

From 7:30 - 8:15 Thursday morning the group will be on Lambton Quay near the Bowen House entrance, offering 20c ‘refunds’ to passersby who bring them empty beverage containers for recycling.

“New Zealand has a huge problem with plastic pollution,” said Anglican Advocacy spokesperson Elise Ranck. “Kiwis use 6 million plastic beverage containers eachday and most are not recycled, so it’s no wonder we see these ending up as litter on our streets and beaches.”

“Container deposit systems offer a solution; in numerous countries, giving people refunds when they return beverage containers has increased recycling rates to more than 80 percent.

“New Zealand to follow suit could establish a system under existing legislation - it’s a simple and effective tool which we could be using right now to clean up our oceans and communities.”

“As Christians we care about waste because it harms people and the environment. Jesus instructs us to love our neighbours as ourselves, and we’re not doing that when we export waste to other countries or leave it polluting the environment we all share.

“We would also love to see churches and other community groups being able to fundraise while reducing waste.

“We are calling on the government to introduce a bottle deposit scheme - for our communities and environment.”

Anglican Advocacy is part of the Anglican Diocese of Wellington, and campaigns on issues of social and environmental justice.

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