Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsections (4) and (6), the operator of an approved collection depot must accept an empty container, delivered to the depot by a person for claiming the refund amount, if the container:
(a) is a permitted container; and
(b) was purchased in the Territory, or a corresponding jurisdiction, after the start of the CDS.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant has a reasonable excuse.
(4) The operator is not required to accept an empty container delivered to the collection depot if any of the following circumstances apply:
(a) the operator is unable:
(i) to verify that the container was supplied by a CDS supplier; or
(ii) to identify the approved refund marking on the container (for example, because the container is crushed or the label has been removed or is illegible);
(b) the container is contaminated;
(c) the container has a removable lid on it;
(d) the operator has asked for a declaration under section 17(3) for the container and the request has not been complied with;
(e) a circumstance stated in the collection approval relating to the approved depot.
(5) However, the operator of the collection depot must not refuse to accept an empty container in a circumstance mentioned in subsection (4)(a) to (e) if the waste management arrangement relating to containers delivered to that collection depot requires acceptance in that circumstance.
(6) Before accepting empty permitted containers at a collection depot for payment of the refund amount, the operator may require the person delivering the containers to sort them by material type.