CommunityAction
for People and Planet.
P.O. Box 68, Motueka. Phone
(03)
526 8014 / 021 174 0400
email
: duncaneddy@yahoo.com
Ministers
Response to Deposit Call Disappoints
By
Bernadette Cooney
Nelson
Mail
March
24, 2006
Environment
Minister David Benson Pope
has poured cold water on a
Motueka environmentalist's
call for the return of bottle
deposits.
Despite
support from many South Island
local authorities for a campaign
to reinstate bottle deposits,
spearheaded by Motueka's
CommunityAction for People
and Planet, the Minister has
said in a letter to the Nelson
City Council that he remains
confident the industry-led
voluntary packaging accord
will solve the problem of
glass mountains awaiting recycling.
CommunityAction
spokesman Duncan Eddy said
he was disappointed by the
minister's response, but it
would not deter campaigners
from continuing to push for
refundable, recyclable glass
bottles.
“A
visit to any one of the South
Island 's huge glass mountains
would prove to the minister
the accord is not working.
It is economically and environmentally
unsustainable.” Mr
Eddy said.
He
commended the council for
supporting his campaign and
taking the issue to a recent
meeting of South Island Councils.
He said 18 local authorities
had shown support for the
return of bottle deposits,
the most recent being Gore
District Council.
Nelson
Deputy Mayor Gail Collingwood
said Mr Benson Pope's response
followed a letter from the
council earlier this year
outlining why it supported
manufacturers shouldering
the responsibility for glass
bottle reuse.
‘His
response was less than enthusiastic,
but that is not the end of
the matter for us,” she
said.
The
issue would be back on the
agenda at a meeting of all
South Island local authorities
in Dunedin next Month. Ms
Collingwood said.