Tasmania has scored below the national average on beverage container waste, according to new data from Clean Up Australia, with the organisation urging residents to lobby the government for a container scheme in the state.
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The 2018 Clean Up Australia Rubbish Report, compiled each year from volunteer-submitted data, found beverage container rubbish was the main source of waste in Tasmania over the year - comprising 48.2 per cent of waste collected.
This figure was 16.3 per cent above the 2018 national average and an increase of 31.9 per cent on the 2017 Tasmanian data.
Of the collected beverage container waste in the state, 36 per cent could have been recovered under a container refund scheme, the report suggested.
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Terrie-Ann Johnson, managing director of Clean Up Australia, noted that beverage waste volumes across the country were dropping as container schemes were introduced and urged Tasmanians to lobby the state government to introduce one.
"We are seeing positive proof that container refund schemes work,” Ms Johnson said.
“With the majority of these items recyclable, it makes sense to work with government, business and the community to implement a container deposit scheme for Tasmanians where we can capture and remanufacture the wasted resource that is a single-use container."
The state government is considering a third report into the idea since 2009 – released in July last year.
In January, Environment Minister Elise Archer said that in a small jurisdiction like Tasmania, "we have to be sure the potential implementation of a container refund scheme will be cost-effective and in the public interest".
The state government has been contacted for comment.
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