Petition urging bottle deposits supported.
Motueka - Golden Bay News October 6. By Bernadette Cooney.
A petition calling for the return of bottle deposits, to encourage recycling for businesses, has received 1251 confirmed signatures.
Motueka lobby group CommunityAction for People and Planet launched the petition a month ago and is pleased with the response it has received locally.
“We are winding down our petition campaigns calling on N elson and Tasman Councils to support mandatory bottle deposits as the petition has already made it's point,” communityAction spokesman Duncan Eddy said.
He said since it was launched at the N elson Ecofest, the petition has received 1251 signatures, with another 500 expected on return of all petion forms.
“There is strong local support for this simple and sustainable solution to glass recycling and litter problems.
“We look forward to councillors acting on this mandate,” he said.
The reintroduction of bottle deposits for the wash and reuse of glass containers would decrease waste and generate local employment, Mr Eddy said.
“ New Zealand's glass reprocessing capacity hs been reached and local councils and ratepayers are currently playing the cost.
“We're asking our elected representatives to advocate for bottle deposit legislation as a way of lifting this burden from our shoulders.:”
CommunityAction will present the petion to local councillors when all signatures have been counted.