Call for action on re-use of bottles

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34106, 19 March 1976, Page 14

Call for action on re-use of bottles

(Bj

OLIVER RIDDELL

WELLINGTON, March 18.

The Minister for the Environment (Mr V. S. Young) has called for immediate action on all the recommendations on a report on the re-use and recycling possibilities for beverage containers —including bottles and cans.

The report was produced jointly by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Commission for the Environment. It recommends that the Soft Drink and Cordial Manufacturers’ Association co-' tperate on standardising toft dnnk and cordial bottle shapes and sizes, and that bottle-users consult bottle-, dealers when designing new bott’es or cans to encourage designs which would facili-: tale re-use. Companies should employ re-usable standard containerfor fruit juice beverages, as technology allows, and New! Zealand franchise-holders should encourage their overseas principals to use standard containers Further rewards should b° provided for bottle-collectors to ensure the survival of the. collecting industry, and the Commerce Commission should consider the As«oci-l ated Bottlers’ Company co«t«i when ruling on bottle hiring deposit, and handling chargersays the report. Spirit and wine bottlers should consider incentives to| help collectors ensure a sup- 1 ply of bottles for re-use in; those industries, and where; possible deposits should be! printed on bottle labels. i

Can collecting However, the report op-; posed the introduction of deposits on cans. Can collection centresl should be established when'

de-tinning facilities become available and, when de-! tinning begins, consideration' should be given to ensuring that some of the can scrap! value was available to support the collection system. Soft drink retailers should! receive back all soft drink bottles, the report says. Licensed premises (includ-i mg wine shops) should receive back all liquor bottles, including those without deposits; further experiments should be held with separate ; household collections for .bottles and glass; and continued collection by voluntary groups and professional bottle dealers should be encouraged. Plastic crates Environmental impact studies should precede the; introduction of significant; new beverage containers,! and consideration should be given to the extended use of plastic pallets and crates, j and can and one-way bottle; dispensers should be re- ’ inlaced where possible with’ dispensers for returnable: bottles. . Further studies should be made of the energy requirements of types of beverage containers, the report says. It adds that “tear-top” cans should be replaced by “pon-top” cans. The $7500 ceiling on the subsidy bn donations to the litter control council should be raised or, preferably, abolished. and gifts to the council should be made taxdeductible for companies. Further consideration!

should be given to ways of increasing the use of vehicle litter bags, and attention should be directed to an investigation of packaging taxes, says the report.