Ten allegations against Queensland’s container recycling scheme have been referred to the state’s corruption watchdog after a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday revealed allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest.

A parliamentary committee revealed claims that the board coordinating the state’s Containers for Change is “dominated” by Coca-Cola and Lion, with several submissions to the inquiry claiming that the two beverage companies have an incentive to reduce the number of containers being recycled in order to lower their costs.

Beverage companies pay a “scheme fee” funding both the 10-cent refund per container to consumers plus a six-cent rebate to the organisation which operates the depot or collection point. The “scheme fee” is dependent on the number of containers recycled.

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