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Source: MakeLemonade.nz

Te Whanganui a Tara – Young Wellington people are leading a campaign to ban plastic bottles in Aotearoa.

On Friday they are staging a bottle drive at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, where people can bring empty cans, glass and plastic for a refund of twenty cents per container.

The event is being run by the Kiwi Bottle Drive and Plastic Diet, a student-lead organisation dedicated to reducing single-use plastic waste and consumption.

The event is promoting a New Zealand container return scheme as the best solution to the more than two billion beverage containers used every year in Aotearoa.

The simple act of putting a small refundable deposit on all beverage containers translates to higher recycling rates, less litter (including plastic), higher quality recycling, job creation and a less carbon intensive beverage packaging system.

The Kiwi public and parliament support a container return scheme. The Kiwi Bottle Drive petition for a scheme was signed by 18,000 people, and the recent select committee report on it had bipartisan support.

Olga Darkadaki an organiser of the Kiwi Bottle Drive says a return scheme needs to include all beverage containers without exception.

“Container return schemes are part of the wider shift towards where producers take responsibility for end-of-life disposal.

“Across the globe, these systems are being rolled out as one of the best solutions to address the waste and climate crises.”

Plastic bottles spend a few minutes in people’s hands but a lifetime harming the environment.

Every day, New Zealanders consume about five million packaged drinks – but less than 45 percent of recyclable drink containers are actually recycled.

Most of the bottles made in New Zealand are made from virgin plastic material, not recycled plastic.

MIL OSI