Updated July 13, 2018 15:00:57
Photo: The truck pulled over by police at Willaston. (Supplied: SA Police)
South Australia’s Environment Protection Authority is investigating another case of interstate cans and bottles being brought into the state to take advantage of the 10-cent recycling refund.
Police pulled over a truck and trailer on the Sturt Highway at Willaston, north of Adelaide, this morning after noticing it had a blown tyre and its load of 125 bales of beverage containers were poorly secured.
Police became more suspicious when inquiries revealed the truck and driver had come from Victoria.
Environment Protection Authority officers also attended the scene.
The driver a 38-year-old Seaford man was reported for driving unregistered and uninsured and for loading offences.
His truck was impounded.
The EPA has seized the cans and bottles and is investigating offences relating to the deposit of cans purchased interstate.
Just last month, a Broken Hill man was convicted and fined for attempting to bring drink cans into SA to reap the financial rewards of the state’s container deposit scheme.
He was fined $4,800 for attempting to bring 45,000 drink containers into SA from NSW.
The offence was reminiscent of an episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld, where the characters Kramer and Newman collected tens of thousands of drink containers and drive from New York to Michigan to reap the financial rewards of their paid container deposit scheme.
But in the 1996 episode, the cans never make it to the depot, leaving the two men stranded deep in midwestern America dodging bullets from an angry farmer.
Scheme in SA for decades
The South Australian scheme was introduced in 1977.
NSW has had a similar scheme since December last year, however the Victorian Government is opposed to bringing one in.
Consumers pay for the deposit when they buy cans and bottles and get it refunded when they bring their containers in to be recycled.
The maximum penalty for attempting to seek a refund for interstate containers is $30,000.
Topics:recycling-and-waste-management,crime,traffic-offences,adelaide-5000,sa,willaston-5118,vic
First posted July 13, 2018 14:36:50
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-13/epa-seizes-cans-and-bottles-in-willaston/9990908
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