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Contact:
Rose Marie Harris
Friday, April 11, 2003 – “A Refundable Containers Act” to deal with the
collection and disposal of plastic containers, will soon become legislation on
the statue books of Saint Lucia. Although strides are being made in keeping the
country clean, there is still one outstanding problem that continues to defy a
solution – the disposal of plastic containers, particularly soft drinks.
In his 2003/2004 Budget Address, Prime Minister, Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony
lamented plastic containers are strewn everywhere, on roadsides, in gutters,
drains and on pavements. “Just visit the Castries Habour, or the Marchand River
after heavy rains. Plastic bottles are everywhere. This has drawn adverse
comments from cruise ship visitors as well as locals,” lamented Dr. Anthony.
Recently, government granted concessions to a young Saint Lucian entrepreneur to
collect and recycle plastic bottles. However, according to Dr. Anthony, “The
young man will not succeed unless a system is put in place which places value on
returned plastic bottles. Moral suasion is not enough. It has not worked in the
past.”
Presently, soft drink manufacturers pay a refund to purchasers of bottled drinks
on the return of empty glass bottles. Government has proposed to extend this to
plastic bottles and cans. A dealer or distributor may be exempted if he or she
has in place an adequate system for the recycling of beverage containers.
Otherwise, the dealer or distributor will be required to accept at his or her
place of business from a redeemer any empty beverage container sold by the
dealer, and will pay to the redeemer the refund value of each such beverage
container. “Likewise a distributor will accept from a dealer or operator of a
redemption centre any empty beverage container identical to that sold by the
distributor and will pay the dealer or operator of a redemption centre the
refund value of each such beverage container,” the Prime Minister exclaimed.
The Act will make provision to allow a dealer or operator of a centre to refuse
any broken bottle, corroded or dismembered can, or any beverage container that
contains a significant amount of foreign material.
The refund value will be determined by the Minister by order published in the
Gazette, after consultation with Beverage Manufacturers.
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