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The Government should pick up the cost of running a container return scheme, the Dunedin City Council has argued.
A scheme proposed by the Ministry for the Environment could enable people to get back 20c on every beverage container returned.
However, administration fees could prevent the programme from being cost-neutral, prompting Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins to suggest at a meeting last week that the Government should cover administration costs.
The suggestion was part of a wide-ranging discussion about transforming and standardising recycling services.
Cr Lee Vandervis did not agree, arguing getting the Government to cover the cost of running the scheme was a surefire way to make it more expensive and to spread the cost on to people who did not consume the products concerned.
He and Cr Jules Radich voted against the mayor’s amendment to the council’s submission, but it passed.
Councillors supported having a more consistent system for kerbside recycling across New Zealand.