Beginning next year, ACT residents will be able to recycle more containers for a 10-cent refund under an expansion of the ACT Government’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS).
ACT climate change and environment minister Suzanne Orr argues: “Expanding the scheme will reduce waste and improve the recovery and circularity of our precious resources.”
But the ACT Greens believe it is not enough in a climate and environmental crisis.
“The expansion won’t come until 2027,” Greens deputy leader Jo Clay MLA said. “And once it’s here, it only deals with one tiny aspect of our waste problems.
The CDS expansion
At the moment, the ACT CDS accepts most aluminium cans; glass and plastic bottles; and cartons from juice boxes and flavoured milk labelled with a 10-cent refund mark.
From mid-2027, most containers between 150 millilitres and 3 litres such as
• Wine and spirits
• Cordials and juices
• Larger containers of up to 3 litres that are already in the scheme, like flavoured milk and juice.
will also be eligible.
Until then, people should recycle these containers in their yellow-recycling bins; the new containers will not be accepted at return points until the CDS expansion.
Starting the expansion next year will give the beverage industry time to adjust and for return points and systems to prepare to collect and process the new containers, Ms Orr said. The ACT Government will update regulations, and work with industry and scheme partners to implement the changes.
Since the CDS began in 2018, more than 430 million containers have been returned locally, generating more than $43 million for ACT residents and community organisations, Ms Orr said.
As a result of the expansion, 8 million more containers would be collected and 400 tonnes of recyclable material diverted from landfill in the first year, Ms Orr said; this will increase over time.
ACT Greens: Not enough
Although they welcomed the expansion to container deposit recycling, the ACT Greens believe “it is not enough in a climate and environmental crisis”, Ms Clay said.
“Canberra produces over 1 million tonnes of waste each year, and we have fallen behind on our recycling efforts. The ACT plateaued at recovering around 75 per cent of our waste for two decades. Last year, we only recovered 67 per cent of our waste.
“It’s frustrating the ACT has gone backwards. That’s because we are not making the policy decisions we need to make to progress.
“Instead of taking leadership and providing solutions for people’s household waste, we instead have an ACT Labor Government building a new Materials Recovery Facility which won’t recycle much of our standard packaging. The ACT Government still hasn’t signed for the new FOGO facility, despite Labor committing to roll out FOGO services to all Canberrans by 2023 two elections ago.”
ACT residents support expansion
The government announced intentions to expand the scheme in 2022. More than 90 per cent of participants favour expanding the scheme, according to community consultation; they believe it will generate more income for themselves or for schools, charities, sporting clubs, and community groups. According to 2022 data, ACT residents are one of the top Australian populations most likely to recycle drink containers for the refund.
Other Australian jurisdictions — including NSW’s ‘Return and Earn’ scheme — are also expanding their schemes. Ms Orr said these “are hugely popular, and have resulted in cleaner and better recycling outcomes that support a more circular economy”.
Conservation Council ‘delighted’
The Conservation Council ACT Region was delighted the government was expanding the container deposit scheme to make more containers eligible, CEO Dr Simon Copland said.
“The container deposit scheme has been a huge success in the ACT, encouraging more recycling and supporting individuals and community groups along the way.”
The Council recommended that the government make it easier to drop off containers through technologies such as reverse vending machines at supermarkets and shopping malls.
“This would further increase accessibility to the scheme, helping promote recycling even further,” Dr Copland said.
