A Return and Earn vending machine has been installed at Green Hills, but Maitland residents will have to wait for their 10 cent refunds.
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The installation is a ‘donation station’, a smaller type of reverse vending machine that only delivers a donation to a charity, not a refund to the user.
The machine comes with little fanfare, as it appears neither Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison or Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald were informed of the development last week, despite both contacting environment minister Gabrielle Upton’s office for an update.
Ms Aitchison lashed the installation, saying that while it was good for charity it was an “absolute joke” as Maitland lags behind in the roll out of the scheme.
Mr MacDonald said on Thursday he expected a location for a Maitland reverse vending machine to be announced in the next fortnight.
The site has not yet been added to the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s website. The EPA have been contacted for comment.
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