Rage against the machines
Recycling rollout a shambles as design canned
AN embarrassed state government has been forced to bin the design of new cash-for-can machines because disabled people can’t access them.
More than 800 reverse vending machines were supposed to be rolled out across NSW for the start of the bottle-and-can recycling scheme today but the designers have been ordered back to the drawing board.
It was revealed yesterday that at least 49 of the machines already installed did not meet national standards for disability access because the return chutes were too high for people in wheelchairs.
The government has given the contractor three months to fix the problem and it is understood Premier Gladys Berejiklian has privately conceded the delivery of the scheme – which will begin charging families up to $4.80 for a box of soft drinks from today – has been bungled.
As well as the design problems, there was a shortfall in the number of machines available across the state.
That means huge swaths of NSW from today will be paying more for drinks with no way to recoup the money or recycle the bottles as per the plan, with can collection points concentrated in suburban areas.
MPs continued to vent their frustrations to the Premier yesterday, with most supporting the ideology of a recycling scheme but seething about the impact the shambolic rollout would have on regional battleground electorates.
As well as access issues, they are worried about the impact on small businesses forced to pay the bottle levy in advance, and others losing business across the border to Queensland where drinks will be cheaper.
A spokesman for Minister for the Environment Gabrielle Upton said the machines needed to meet the requirements, and the contractor would be held to that. Later, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement: “TOMRA Cleanaway (the contractor) is contractually obligated to ensure that collection points across the state meet relevant legal requirements, and provide reasonable access for people with disabilities.”
It was unclear last night whether the existing machines would be ripped out or made accessible with a ramp.