The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) has delivered a 1,500 person petition to the State Parliament calling for the development of a cash for containers scheme.

In addition to the petition, nearly 1,000 emails were received by the State Minister for the Environment in support of the delivery of a scheme.

WALGA President Mayor Troy Pickard said the campaign had been successful in raising community awareness and facilitating expressions of support for the scheme to the State Government.

“This campaign has been created to highlight to the State Government the need for a scheme similar to that already in place in South Australia, a scheme which has been successful in reducing litter, increasing recycling rates and in creating a greater environmental awareness in the public,” Mayor Pickard said.

“Local Government and the community have embraced the campaign, with 1590 people signing our petition and nearly 1000 emails being sent to the Minister for Environment.”

Mayor Pickard said through Local Government programs in schools and during community events, more than 80,000 containers had been collected for recycling.

“The community has shown their interest in a cash for containers scheme - we saw great support for the reverse vending machine events held last year, with over 500 containers being collected in just two hours at one event,” he said.

“The community and Local Government sector are in favour of this scheme – now all we need is a commitment from all political parties to implement it.”