The Timaru transfer station's mountain of collected glass in 2005. Half of the 2.23 billion drinks containers bought in New Zealand each year end up in landfills or being disposed of in ways other than by recycling.

Councils have been lobbying the Government for a return to the days of giving cash refunds to people who recycle bottles and cans.

Bottle refunds are back on the agenda after a push by Palmerston North District Council at last weekend's Local Government New Zealand conference in Dunedin.

Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith was backed by Auckland Council, and 90 per cent of other councils, in urging the Government to adopt a scheme in which recycled bottles and cans would earn a 10c refund.

FAIRFAX NZ Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith says a proposed national Container Deposit Scheme, offering refunds to people who recycle bottles and cans, is a "no brainer''

The scheme was "back to the future stuff" and a "no-brainer" that would double the amount of recycling and create about 2000 jobs, while saving councils up to $40 million a year, Smith said.

READ MORE: Refunds recommended for returned drink bottles and cans

About half of the 2.23 billion drinks containers bought each year are estimated to end up in landfills, or are disposed of in ways other than by recycling.

"But the big thing is that we move the cost of recycling from local government and ratepayers to the industry and consumers," Smith said.

He pointed to the example of South Australia, which had created a strong recycling and anti-litter culture through a refund scheme.

The self-styled "wine state" has a 76.5 per cent overall return rate of beverage containers. Bottles, plastics, and cans now make up only 2.2 per cent of litter.

In 2015-16, the state recovered 582m containers (43,165 tonnes), earning refunds of $58m for the community, or $35 for every South Australian.

Wellington City Council environment committee chairwoman Iona Pannett said the council backed the scheme, which she also described as a "no-brainer".

Beyond increasing recycling, such a scheme could help raise health awareness and get people to cut back on sugary drinks and alcohol. she said.

But Ministry for the Environment spokeswoman Sarah White said there was insufficient evidence to warrant introducing such a scheme in New Zealand.

"The Government provides around $15m each year to local councils to spend on waste minimisation initiatives such as kerbside recycling schemes or community dropoff facilities," she said.

Sharon McIver​, owner of recycling and waste solutions company Our Daily Waste, said the more schemes helping to reduce landfill the better.

"It could help to educate people that our rubbish has a value, and stop beverage containers from entering the landfill stream via city, school, or office bins.

"Most of our recycling is being sent to China and they are getting fussier with what they will accept, so any recycling that is contaminated will just go straight to landfill."

"Contamination" could happen when clean and unclean recyclable products were collected together, which often reduced the effectiveness of kerbside recycling, she said.

A report by environment consultancy Envision NZ last year estimated a refund scheme would cost the drinks industry half a cent per container, but would increase recycling every year by 45,000 tonnes.

Auckland Council is now commissioning an independent economic review into that report.

Kerry Tyack, executive director of the New Zealand Beverage Council, said 97 per cent of people had access to household or community recycling services.

"If something's not broke, why try and fix it? I think the industry will wonder why we need to lump yet another cost on the consumer when there's already a lot of good product stewardship schemes."

HOW WOULD A REFUND SCHEME WORK?

* Drinks containers would be declared a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, with a national recovery target of 85 per cent.

* The drinks industries would be given up to two years to come up to speed with the scheme before it was rolled out.

* The scheme would require a stewardship programme and an oversight agency – perhaps the existing Packaging Council.

* Bottle dropoff stations and reverse vending machines would form part of a national network, with producers required to put a minimum refundable deposit on drinks containers.