The executive director of the Packaging Council says the poll clearly shows that initial support for a container deposit charge disappears when people are asked to pay for it.
"That 84 per cent people prefer using kerbside and more bins in public places rather than paying an extra charge is no surprise because they are already paying through their rates for a comprehensive system of recycling with 95 per cent of people having access to recycling facilities," he says.
"The business community supports the Government's preference for voluntary product stewardship because it makes good commercial sense and we hope that other parties considering the Green Party's Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill take notice. There has been so much emotive lobbying for container deposits that it is easy for politicians to be persuaded that this is what people really want."
Last year the council commissioned independent research to assess the costs of container deposits. The net impact of introducing a mandatory beverage container deposit system in New Zealand could cost up to $121m per annum.
Curtis says that even the proponents of container deposits concur that the costs would be in the millions of dollars but they believe that these costs would fall elsewhere.
"Supporters say that costs would be borne by the brand owners and retailers. But everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch and if producers have to pay they will have to pass on the costs to shoppers. That's how the economy works."
"This survey shows that New Zealanders recognise that running two competing systems in parallel does not make sense when 77 per cent of our councils already provide a household kerbside collection, which is by far the cheapest option targeting a wider range of materials than just beverage containers."
Curtis said that the recent decision to bring a state of the art Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to the Auckland region with a similar facility to be developed in Christchurch as well the MRF which has been operating for almost a year in Timaru, shows the commitment which local government has to improving recycling through investment in modern technology.
