The Australian Food and Grocery Council has told a Senate Committee hearing container deposit schemes are expensive and a burden on businesses.
The committee is looking at the effectiveness of deposit schemes in South Australia and the Northern Territory ahead of a possible introduction of a national program.
The Boomerang Alliance lobby group, which supports deposits, has told a hearing in Adelaide the price of drinks is higher in places where schemes exist.
It claimed drinks manufacturers were profiteering from the program and there needed to be an independent body to control any national program.
The Food and Grocery Council told the committee deposit schemes were expensive and inefficient.
General manager Jenny Pickles says drinks prices varied for market reasons and were not due to any profiteering.
