SO Victoria is getting a container deposit scheme.
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About time, a lot of people would be saying on the Border, having seen the recycling success of the NSW 10-cent bottle and can refunds introduced in 2017.
Of course the flipside of that environmental benefit north of the Murray River has been the damaging impact it has had on beverage sellers in NSW border centres such as Albury, Corowa, Mulwala and Barooga.
Traders have been left having to discount and cope with losses because of the extra 10 cents for canned and bottled drinks in NSW compared to Victoria.
Now Victoria has become the last state in the Commonwealth to commit to a container deposit scheme, more than 40 years after South Australia was the first in 1977.
But Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews, in flagging his move on Monday, said the scheme would not be up and running until 2023.
Why can't the Victorian government introduce its container deposit scheme sooner?
This is not something that is foreign to state governments in Australia, with Mr Andrews pointing other jurisdictions already have schemes which can provide models.
However, as Border residents we know uniformity between states is not a priority and we can expect there will be differences.
It is a shame and leaves you wondering what the point of having cross border commissioners is, when inevitably we seem to end up with anomalies piled on anomalies.
Echoing that point, Mr Andrews stated Victorian homes would get an extra bin for glass recycling, so Wodonga properties will have four bins and Albury residents three.
