Consumers are paying more for drinks after the introduction of WA's container deposit scheme but the economic regulator says the price increases are reasonable.
Consumers are paying more for packaged beverages after the introduction of Western Australia’s container deposit scheme but the economic regulator says the price increases are reasonable.
According to new figures calculated by the Economic Regulation Authority and published in a draft report released today, consumers are paying an average 10.5 cents more for non-alcoholic drinks, while alcoholic beverages are 7.6 cents more expensive in metropolitan regions since the scheme began in October 2020.
The scheme, called Containers for Change and run by not-for-profit organisation Western Australia Return Recycle Renew, provides consumers with a 10-cent refund when they deposit used containers at a collection point.
The economic regulator, which was charged with ensuring beverage producers did not use the opportunity to increase prices beyond the costs of the scheme, estimated it cost beverage companies 12.82 cents per container to participate in the scheme.
It found, on average, producers were passing on slightly less than the costs of the scheme to consumers, and the increase in retail price was similar to those in other states with container deposit schemes.
The regulator will continue to monitor pricing for the next six months before making a recommendation as to whether it needs to keep watching prices.
The report also found that, of the 753.6 million eligible containers sold between October and March, 376.7 million had been recovered through refund points and material recovery facilities, a return rate of about 50 per cent.
In the March quarter, the scheme had a return rate of 58 per cent.
WA’s return rate is similar to that of other schemes in the country, including NSW (60 per cent in March 2019), but lower than the more established scheme in South Australia (77 per cent in 2019-20).
Containers for Change is aiming for 65 per cent of eligible containers to be returned in the 2021-22 financial year.
Environment Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the regulator’s report confirmed beverage companies were doing the right thing and had not raised prices unreasonably.
She said the numbers demonstrated the success of the WA scheme.
"The report also once again shows just how well the Western Australian community has embraced the scheme, with a return rate in the March 2021 quarter that was bigger than that achieved by NSW during their scheme's first year of operation,” Ms Sanderson said.
