More than 83 million containers have been returned in the first 10 weeks of Return and Earn but that is just a fifth of what was planned, NSW Labor has said.
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Shadow Enviroment Minister Penny Sharpe said consumers had paid more than $100 million to establish the scheme but just $8.3m had been given back as refunds.
Ms Sharpe said regional residents had been hardest hit, with limited collection points and some people required to travel large distances to return containers.
Since December 1, consumers have paid approximately 15 cents when purchasing eligible cans and bottles to cover the rebate and administration costs.
Ms Sharpe said the blame laid with Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton.
“Everyone in NSW is paying more for every drink, but with the government failing to provide enough refund collection points our collective wallets are $100 million lighter,” Ms Sharpe said.
“The Minister’s bungling of this scheme has hit the hip pocket of every consumer in NSW, particularly people in regional areas who have to travel further to find a collection point.”
Ms Sharpe pointed to Mudgee and Parkes, two towns in the Central West that still don’t have a collection point. Orange also only has one machine in the north of the city.
Fairfax Media approached the office of Ms Upton to find out when Mudgee and Parkes would be getting their reverse vending machines.
The Minister’s office declined to comment, forwarding questions to the Environmental Protection Authority. However they also failed respond to questions about specific locations.
“There has been great take-up of Return and Earn with more than 87 million containers returned statewide and this is expected to grow as more collection points are rolled out across the state,” an EPA spokesperson said.
“Over 400 collection points are operating with more locations coming this week.”
Ms Sharpe said it wasn’t good enough.
“The Minister must explain how long consumers are going to be paying more without the ability to obtain a refund,” she said.
“These failures are putting additional cost of living pressures on families across NSW.”
Ms Sharpe said the government was busy talking up the figure of more than 80 million while neglecting to mention it had forecast more than 375 million containers at this point.
While more than $90 million of rebates remained unclaimed according to Ms Sharpe, the EPA said there was “no scope for profiteering”, and said scheme co-ordinator, Exchange for Change, was responsible for the scheme’s financial management.
