Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (17:12): (662) My question is to the Minister for Environment, and I ask that he visits the electorate of Northcote to see our new container deposit scheme reverse vending machine in action. This very morning the crane arrived at 6:30 am into Preston South to install the high-tech automated refund point for Victoria’s container deposit scheme. Near the corner of St Georges Road and Bell Street, behind the arts centre and Ray Bramham Gardens, our new CDS machine will take recycling to the next level in the inner north. Residents will be able to collect cans, cartons and glass and plastic bottles and bring them here, where they can insert them into the chute at the front of the machine. The containers will be automatically scanned to make sure they are eligible for a refund and stored in the back end of the snazzy-looking shipping container, ready for collection by Visy, our network operator in the north. When you finish depositing the containers, the reverse vending machine will issue the refund of 10 cents per item. What is more, people will have a choice in how they receive their refund. They can opt for a cash voucher or an electronic payment into their bank account, or they can choose to donate their refund to a charity, school, sports club or community organisation in the area through the interface on the machine. This is a wonderful opportunity for our community to take part in the circular economy, reduce waste, pocket some extra cash and support one another through donations. I know that local organisations like Friends of Darebin Creek, Northcote Primary, Thornbury kinder and Northcote City soccer club have already signed up.

Speaker, as you know, the inner north is already at the forefront of our collective environmental efforts, and as the member for Northcote, I have been proud to champion important initiatives, like our neighbourhood battery in Alphington, building new homes gas-free, restoring our creeks and of course the rollout of the CDS. With drink containers making up almost half of Victoria’s litter, the CDS is a key part of our work in sustainability, and I am immensely pleased to see it made more accessible through this local reverse vending machine. The CDS has of course already been a huge success, with over 400 million containers already returned statewide and over 8 million returned in Darebin alone. It builds on our Labor government’s commitment to a circular economy and our ambitious target of diverting 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030. We all have a role to play in meeting this target, and I know that Northcote is well and truly up for that challenge. I thank Visy for operating this refund point, and I encourage northside residents to give it a go and realise those environmental and financial benefits for our community. I am looking forward to welcoming the minister to our special part of the world.