This Christmas, residents in the Lithgow region will continue to pay more for bottles and cans with nowhere to return them for a 10 cent refund on the purchase.
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The NSW Government’s ‘Return and Earn’ recycling scheme aims to reduce the state’s litter volume by 40 per cent by 2020 and offers people a 10 cent refund on acceptable bottles and cans but Lithgow’s closest outlets.
The scheme has drawn criticism that it was rolled out before all of the infrastructure was in place, including sites like Lithgow, which does not have a single Return and Earn point in the local government area.
Bathurst’s one and only collection centre closed up shop earlier this week when it could not accept any more recyclables due to lack of storage space.
Bathurst MP Paul Toole has stepped in to lobby for another Return and Earn collection point for the centre, which could arrive as early as Saturday, December 23.
The Lithgow Mercury approached Mr Toole’s office about when Lithgow could expect its own collection point.
His office advised that there were currently representatives “on the ground in Lithgow” searching for a suitable venue to host a collection point.
As to when it will arrive, there is no indication, except that it will be at some point during the roll-out period, which began on December 1 and will continue until March 2018.
There are two kinds of Return and Earn points, a self-service reverse vending machine for the public or an over-the-counter collection point.
Both of Lithgow’s closest collection points, at The Handy Store in Katoomba and Metro Petroleum in South Bathurst, offer over-the-counter collection.
