VICTORIA'S Greens leader has flagged plans for a 10-cent deposit to be applied to cans and bottles in the state.
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Samantha Ratnam said she would be introducing a bill to have a container deposit scheme similar to the one already operating in NSW.
"There is no excuse to delay the introduction of this important piece of the puzzle to fix our recycling crisis," she said.
"We need a refund on bottles and cans scheme. This is the first step in fixing our waste crisis."
Parliamentary number-crunchers have done sums and calculated the scheme would cost taxpayers about $9 million over three years, while raising more than $244 million over the same period - largely from uncollected deposits, the Greens said.
"We know from our neighbours that refund schemes for bottles and cans work and yet the government continues to delay action and allow the increased pollution of our rivers and oceans," Ms Ratnam said.
In August last year, a bill, also introduced by the Greens, for a scheme was overwhelmingly rejected in the Victorian Upper House.
