Return and Earn Reverse Vending Machine first in the Hunter

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter is now home to the first Return and Earn Reverse Vending Machine in the state in a bid to reduce waste.

The machine is located at the Woolworths in Medowie and it's as easy as putting in a container, and getting 10 cents back to give to a charity, or use at the local Woolies.

The state government will be rolling out more of the machines across the Hunter which will be in use from December 1. The NSW government is aiming to reduce waste by 40 per cent by 2020.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald says it's really quite a simple way to reduce the amount of litter on the streets in the Hunter.

"You put your container in, you get your payment or your voucher or your contribution to your charity and at the back of the vending machine there's a 20 foot container and all the material then goes into the back obviously to be collected by the waste industry," said Scot MacDonald.

The government says the machines present a massive logistical exercise which is why it's taking a little bit of time to get them all installed and up and running.

Scot MacDonald said they've been rolled out in South Australia already and so far, so good.

"It does make a material difference to the rubbish on the road that you see in the streets in your neighbourhood. So look it has got the runs on the board, we were talking to the installers there who've come over from Europe and they're saying it has a good track record in some of the European countries."

The containers eligible for the 10 cent refund include most containers between 150ml and three litres. Containers shouldn't be crushed or broken and have the original label attached to be eligible for the refund.

Ban the bag

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Shadow Minister for the Environment and Heritage Penny Sharpe was in Newcastle today to talk banning the plastic bag with Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp and local environmentalists.

They've labelled the governments in-action over the issue as a disgrace, with five other state's and territories planning to or have already banned plastic bags. Not only that, supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles have recently announced they'll be phasing out the plastic bag.

Newcastle, and the Hunter, has a highly regarded coastal environment and Labor say the risks to marine wildlife are too great for the government not to act.

"There are no more excuses left. The community supports these bags, most of Australia has banned the bag and now most of Australia is stepping up but we need to make sure it's not just the supermarkets but every retail outlet,"

"There are very few issues in the parliament that enjoy the level of support that this bill does, there is very few bill or ideas in parliament that have the support of the community and corporate Australia. It makes no sense, we do not understand why the government should do it but we're urging them again today to get up and do it," said Penny Sharpe.

The facts about plastic bags almost speak for themselves, Penny Sharpe says 30 per cent off the rubbish which enters the ocean is based on plastics with estimates it kills up to one million seabirds, countless fish and 100,000 sea mammals a year throughout the world.

On a smaller scale throughout Australia, 159 single-use plastic bags are used every second which means more than 10 million new bags every day. In NSW up to 61 million bags are littered each year.

"I've had hundreds and hundreds of people contact my office about banning plastic bags. Look Newcastle is all beautiful, magnificent beaches and Novocastrians love their beaches and the last thing they want to see is plastic bags littering them and getting into the ocean killing animal life," said Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp.

"I don't think people do realise how it does break down and does get into the ecosystems in the oceans. It gets right down into the guts of so many fish that get eaten by other fish, chokes turtles, chokes dolphins and kills so many marine life that we all love and want to live."