SLUG A CHUG
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BEER drinkers are likely to pay at least $2.40 more for a carton of stubbies from tomorrow thanks to the new container refund scheme. Brewers will be slugged an extra 10 cents for every bottle of suds they sell — and they say it will come out of your pocket. The scheme, which starts on November 1, is aimed to encourage recycling and reduce littering. The newage dilemma will have beer lovers reaching for the whisky bottle because like wine, milk and pure juice, they’re not taxed.
GOLD Coast beer lovers can expect to pay at least $2.40 more for a carton of grog from tomorrow with the introduction Queensland’s new container refund scheme.
While school groups and charities are set to profit from the recycling plan, local bottlos and brewers say consumers can expect prices to rise.
The container refund scheme which received bipartisan support comes into operation on November 1, and will rebate 10 cents for every suitable container returned.
However, beverage manufacturers will be hit with a monthly processing fee of around 10.2 cents per unit (can, bottle etc) to cover the rebate and cost of processing.
Wine, spirits, milk and pure juice bottles are exempt.
Hayden Blair, of the Grand Hotel liquor shop in Labrador, said the prices would likely be passed on to consumers.
“Prices are going to go up, there is no doubt about it, from $2.40 per carton to even $4.10 depending on the product,’’ Mr Blair said.
“We have already seen that in supermarkets when it comes to soft drink prices.
“Coca-Cola, water, anything really will be impacted by this, so we are just making sure that people know we certainly aren’t making a profit out of the price rises.”
Mr Blair highlighted a price bump in NSW when a recycling scheme was introduced last year: “but I don’t think people will shy away from beer”.
Queensland Hotels Association chief executive Bernie Hogan said the industry was bemused by the move.
“It will definitely increase for all those products, not just alcoholic products, and they will definitely be more than $2.40,” he said.
“From the industry’s perspective it was not really necessary, given the rate of recycling in the community, but we have now been told it is a litter issue, not a recycling issue.
“We didn’t ask for it, we didn’t like it but now we have got to work with it.”
Gold Coast brewers were more optimistic.
“As suppliers we are the ones who fund the 10c refund but that isn’t all the cost involved, it is also administration of the scheme,” Burleigh Brewing CEO Peta Fielding said.
“We will absorb a bit but really we are all for anything that can genuinely help reduce rubbish and save out planet.
“I really, really hope it will be effective.”
Black Hops co-founder Eddie Oldfield also hoped the impact would be worth it.
“If it does encourage people to start recycling, the environment is better off for it,” he said. “Brewers can either bad mouth it or look for the positives, which is a better environment.”
A mix of more than 30 hitech collection machines, designated businesses and bag drop-off points have been organised across the Gold Coast.
By using a mobile phone app, consumers returning containers can credit their bank account or donate to charity.