CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE
SCHEME
1046. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Minister for Environment:
I
refer to Legislative Council question without notice 883 of 9 September 2020 in
relation to Containers for Change.
(1) From 1
October 2020, how will my constituents in Gingin, Kojonup, Lake Grace, Morawa,
Northampton and surrounding towns reasonably access the scheme?
(2) Has WA Return
Recycle Renew Ltd established an interim service in these locations, noting
that some are more than 100 kilometres from an operational refund point?
(3) If a local
community group, organisation or business cannot be identified to operate a refund
point, will WARRRL step in and establish a service consistent with the minimum
network standards?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Residents of
the towns listed will be able to visit their nearest refund point location to
return containers. On 1 October, seven refund points opened in the midwest
region, 26 opened in the wheatbelt region and eight opened in the great
southern region. These are in excess of the government's minimum
network standards for scheme commencement.
In addition, over 1 000 community groups and charities are registered to
be virtual or physical donation points across the state.
(2)–(3) Containers
for Change launched with refund points in excess of the 172 refund points
required by 1 October 2020, and WA Return Recycle Renew Ltd is on track to
achieve the minimum standard requirement of 229 refund points by 1 October
2021.
WARRRL is working with contracted
refund-point operators to provide interim services for Gingin, Kojonup, Lake
Grace, Morawa and Northampton. Once interim service arrangements are confirmed,
communities will be informed via local newspapers or social media. The
Containers for Change website will also be updated to reflect this. I am also
delighted to advise that since commencement eight days ago, more than 5.5 million
containers have been returned and the scheme has created more than 680 jobs
across the state.