Refunds in SA

[Jamie]

Just a completely inane question.

On all the soft drink cans, bottles etc. it says "5c deposit in SA". How does it work? Do you take it to a collection place? Does anybody do it? Should aI bring a car load of bottles on my next trip to SA?

These are the great questions of our age!

 

[BomberBoy]

Originally posted by Jamie
Just a completely inane question.

On all the soft drink cans, bottles etc. it says "5c deposit in SA". How does it work? Do you take it to a collection place? Does anybody do it? Should aI bring a car load of bottles on my next trip to SA?

These are the great questions of our age!

yeah i believe so.

all you need is 20 000 000 cans till u make your first million dollars.


Hope my calculations are right. Its 12: 20 am.

Damn id look stupid

Oh i forgoti already do

hehehe

 

[lioness]

Is it worth filling your car with empty bottles and cans just to make a few dollars out of it???? Yeah......... lol

 

[the game]

Jamie,

Did you come up with this question after watching "Seinfield" on Wednesday? Kramer and Newman, LOL

 

[Uncle Steve]

Originally posted by Jamie
On all the soft drink cans, bottles etc. it says "5c deposit in SA". How does it work? Do you take it to a collection place? Does anybody do it? Should aI bring a car load of bottles on my next trip to SA?

There are various collection depots scattered around the city, usually run in the backyard of a deli. There is one on Sturt Road near Brighton, IIRC. Mostly kids do it.

The deposit hasn't changed in years. It was 5c back in the late '70s when a Coke cost 50 cents or less. In these GST-enhanced days when a Coke costs upwards of 2 bucks (at a guess), the 5c hardly seems worth it. There have been calls to increase the deposit because of this.

The deposit on soft-drink cans gave rise to an interesting phenomenon back in the eighties; something that you deposit-challenged interstaters would likely have never witnessed: The professional can scab. These entities would turn up at SANFL matches with a hessian sack, and walk around the crowd collecting empty coke cans. I got to know the faces of some of them well, for every team had it's own army of scabs. They would follow a team to wherever they were playing each week and spend the entire duration of the match circling the oval, scanning for empties. God knows if they ever took time to watch the team they followed - or perhaps they followed a particular team only because that team's fans had the biggest thirst? Who knows? There was a deaf bloke and his 2 deaf sons who would turn up at every Bays match with a sack each. Also a sad bloke called "Lawrence" who was about my age and pretty well despised by all of my Glenelg mates who went to school with him; we'd taunt him every time he made a lap of the oval.

The demise of the SANFL in the early '90s saw a lot of these characters disappear from the ovals. In the mid-nineties the boy scouts got their foot in the pie - for a few years we had boy scouts turning up in uniform, collecting empty cans (at least at Glenelg; don't know about elsewhere). In recent years even the scouts have left for greener (tinnier?) fields, though you still do get the odd person walking around with sacks.

When I was in the scouts, a common method of fundraising was to hold a bottle drive: one of the dads would roll up with a trailer and we'd all cruise around the neighbourhood knocking on doors and asking for any cans or returnable glass (ie beer) bottles. I assume that this is still practiced; though I've never answered the door to a boy scout in years - not even for bob-a-job!

Ahhh, to grow up in Adelaide... you interstaters don't know what you missed!

 

[sbagman]

I suppose you have to attract people to South Australia somehow...

 

[elt]

There used to be refundable deposits on glass bottles in Vic too. It's just that we're not stuck in the 1970s

 

[Sly77]

Originally posted by elt
There used to be refundable deposits on glass bottles in Vic too. It's just that we're not stuck in the 1970s

I was just thinking about that elt - when and more importantly WHY did that stop?

Also, if you collected cans and bottles every day - wouldnt that constitute a job and not a hobby - therefore taxable income ?

 

[elt]

Originally posted by Sly77
I was just thinking about that elt - when and more importantly WHY did that stop?

I'm not sure why, I think it was in the 80s at some stage. I have tried to block out most of my 80s childhood

Originally posted by Sly77
Also, if you collected cans and bottles every day - wouldnt that constitute a job and not a hobby - therefore taxable income ?

Bloody bean counters.

 

[Sly77]

Originally posted by elt

Bloody bean counters. [/B]

Hee hee - I might not look like one - but I sure am one

Yeah I think it was in the 80's - but I'm sure there was a reason.

 

[elt]

No doubt it was because a bean counter somewhere decided it was costing someone too much.

Actually I'm surprised they didn't come up with a ridiculously complicated set of rules as to who could and couldn't get refunds and for which type of bottles. They could continually change the rules too so that any normal person would need to consult another bean counter just to find out what the hell was going on.

 

[Sly77]

Hee hee - how do you think we manage to keep our jobs elt, if the tax laws didn't constantly change - all you NORMAL people would understand it - and we'd become redundant - imagine that - a world without a need for me

Actually I wonder if the cessation has anything to do with recycling pickups from homes as a part of the normal trash removal?

 

[Fat Red]

Originally posted by Sly77
Hee hee - how do you think we manage to keep our jobs elt, if the tax laws didn't constantly change - all you NORMAL people would understand it - and we'd become redundant - imagine that - a world without a need for me

Actually I wonder if the cessation has anything to do with recycling pickups from homes as a part of the normal trash removal?

Bluey, I think we need a tax forum on Bigfooty

 

[elt]

and if the tax laws didn't change I wouldn't be constantly change all my code and I could actually get some meaningful work done (this post qualifies as meaningful work). BTW I object to being referred to as a normal person. A world without a need for you? Nah, it's never happen. For starters the Fan Club would have to be disbanded.

I thought the refunds stopped a fair while before recycling collections started. Maybe once of the slightly more senior BigFooty posters would know though.

 

[Sly77]

Hee hee - tax forum on Bigfooty - COOL

Things have been a bit quiet on the Sly fan club front since our inaugural first meeting - might have to speak to the board to see whats happening

 

[Jamie]

Thankyou for your replies. I feel enlightened!

I didn't gain inspiration from Wednesday's Seinfeld, I always think like this. However, I believe that my Seinfeld addiction back in '94 may have something to do with my warped mind.

I loved the post about all the old characters Uncle Steve. Reminds me of the peanut man who used to roam around Hawthorn matches! Peanuts...Peanuts.

Just one more question - do you have street recycling in SA? If so do hordes of ten year olds scour the streets on Tuesday nights?!

 

[Blues_Brat]

Being an ex South Australian, This question has been asked of me a few times since I've lived in Perth.

In 1976 Don Dunstan decided that a deposit on cans would be the way to go to solve the growing rubbish problem on the sides of roads. It was quite common for people to finish their drink and just throw it out of the car. Putting the deposit on cans meant people were encouraged to keep them or others were inclined to collect them for the money. As Uncle Steve said.. there used to be a multitude of 'can scabs' at the footy, some kids made good money out of it. They only pissed me off when you'd put down a half full can of beer and they'd come over and pick it up without asking.

I've never understood why other states did not adopt this practice (or ridicule it). It solved part of the litter problem and encouraged recycling.

 

[Blues_Brat]

Originally posted by Jamie
Just one more question - do you have street recycling in SA? If so do hordes of ten year olds scour the streets on Tuesday nights?!

Some council areas do.. some don't.. No one would dare leave cans and bottles out cos everyone will be picking through your rubbish!