Since Christmas Trundle man Gordon Kendrick has been saving his empty cans and plastic bottles while he waits for the NSW government to install a Return and Earn collection point in Parkes.
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Almost two months later he’s still waiting and collecting, despite the government saying Parkes was slated for a January start date.
The retiree has two wool packs filling fast and predicts he’ll have double that amount when a machine finally is installed near Parkes Woolworths – 54km from his home.
And he knows he’s not the only one in the shire saving empty cans and bottles.
Beer and soft drink price rises associated with the NSW government’s container deposit scheme (CDS) kicked in from November 1 to help fund the scheme’s introduction on December 1.
Just 230 Return and Earn sites in the state opened when the scheme began – 185 of those were located within Sydney and just four collection points across the Central West and Orana regions.
Gordon believes the government is the biggest earner in this scheme and he’s feeling a little ripped off.
And after all the effort he’s going to to save his cans and bottles, he also believes only half the population will be bothered.
“To me, this one’s a real good rip-off...They didn’t ask me if I wanted to pay extra,” Gordon said.
“It’s free money for the government – If people don’t want to do it, the government keeps their money.
“When a machine is installed, I’ll have to cart these bags into Parkes – if I have four I’ll need a trailer and who’s going to pay me to cart the trailer?
“Then I’ll waste all my time waiting in line to get my money back.”
Gordon said the scheme won’t do much to solve the litter problem around the streets and along roadways either, because he believes those who will be “bothered” returning and earning aren’t the ones littering.
“Those who litter don’t [care], they’re going to keep doing it whether they’re paying 10 cents or not,” he said.
“You’re always going to get litter and we’re getting penalised for it.
“They’re treating us like fools.”
Gordon said he counted more than 100 bottles of water on the side of the road on his way into Parkes last week.
“And that’s not including the coke cans you can’t see in the grass and the McDonald’s and takeaway containers,” he said.
Gordon admitted he was happy to store his cans but he asked about those living in flats in Parkes or those with nowhere to store them until a machine arrives.
“And what about the pensioners and people with no cars? How are they going to get their cans to Parkes?” He said.
“A bus travels from Trundle to Parkes once a fortnight – and costs $15 – but if the bus is full, how will they transport their cans?
“The labels are also needed so you have to keep them out of the sun...and they’re (the bags) are an eyesore.
“In South Australia you get five cents returned and you got your money back straight away, but here, we’ve got to wait for a bloody machine.
“That’s what it used to be like here, in the 1950s and 60s – it wouldn’t matter what it was, you’d hand it in and you’d get sixpence back.”
Gordon will be keeping track of how many cans and bottles he has to save until the Return and Earn machine arrives in Parkes.
The government did not say when Parkes will have a collection point when contacted on Thursday.
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