October launch date for WA CDS a win for all

27 May 2020

The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) welcomes WA Environment Minister Stephen Dawson’s announcement that the WA container deposit scheme will now commence on 1 October 2020. 

Originally slated to start on 2 June 2020, it was announced at the end of March that due to COVID-19, the scheme would have to be deferred to either November 2020 or June 2021, to be determined following a review in August 2020.

This week’s announcement, which also included an assistance package of $3.5 million to support network participants who were at various stages of developing and setting up their sites, would provide much-needed certainty for operators involved in the scheme.

“The WA government is to be congratulated for acting so swiftly in addressing COVID-19, enabling an earlier restart date than initially contemplated. WMRR also genuinely appreciates that the government has listened to the concerns of operators who had worked tirelessly towards the initial 2 June 2020 start date and were left with uncertainty around the new commencement date. In knowing that the scheme will commence on 1 October 2020, coupled with compensation for sites that had already been secured and developed for the scheme, puts WA’s CDS back on track,” WMRR CEO, Ms Gayle Sloan, said.

"This means new jobs in WA, and moreover, as we pivot towards a post-COVID-19 world, the scheme will no doubt play an important role in delivering ongoing investment in WA, while providing additional and welcome cash flow to communities.”

The CDS is also an important part in the COAG waste export bans puzzle, as plastic that flows through the scheme are amongst those that will impacted when the bans are implemented.

“The impending bans and CDS present an opportunity to grow WA’s domestic remanufacturing capacity. Industry looks forward to continued engagement with the state government to deliver the needed policies and infrastructure, embed procurement of recycled materials, and develop end markets; all of which inevitably spell even more jobs and investment in WA,” Ms Sloan said.