Wine and spirit bottles will soon be added to the list of items that can be recycled under the ACT Container Deposit Scheme. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Canberrans will soon be able to get 10 cents back when they take wine and spirit bottles, and cordial and juice containers, to Container Deposit Scheme drop-off points.
But it’ll be at least 18 months until the system is ready to accept the expanded range of materials.
Environment Minister Suzanne Orr said more than 430 million containers had been recycled since the ACT Container Deposit Scheme began, resulting in more than $43 million landing back in the pockets of individuals and community organisations.
“We expect the expansion will result in an additional 8 million containers collected and 400 tonnes of recyclable material being diverted from landfill in the first year, and this will increase over time,” she said.
“Expanding the scheme will reduce waste and improve the recovery and circularity of our precious resources.”
The ACT Container Deposit Scheme currently accepts most aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles, juice boxes and flavoured milk that have the 10-cent refund label.
From no earlier than mid-2027, this will expand to include wine and spirit bottles, cordials and juices, and larger containers of up to 3 litres that are already part of the scheme (such as flavoured milk).
Many returned items won’t be recycled in Canberra.
The Materials Recovery Facility isn’t expected to open until 2028, and exactly what will be processed there is still being fully determined.
“Our new recycling centre … will have a lot of functions that can [recycle the materials], but we’ll continue to look at other, existing facilities [when considering] where we can best send our waste for reuse and recycling,” Ms Orr said.
“The important part, though, is that it is being reused and recycled.”
Exchange for Change CEO Danielle Smalley said the mid-2027 start date would give the beverage industry time to adjust.
“The wine industry needs to understand things like their labelling requirements, so they’ll need to put new labels on, [and] they’ll also have reporting and administrative requirements,” she explained.
“We need to know how many containers they’re selling each month into the ACT so that we can monitor the percentage that are being redeemed. So it’s getting them up to speed with their obligations, and making sure that they have time to adjust their business to meet those obligations.”
It’s estimated that 7 in 10 people take part in the ACT’s Container Deposit Scheme, which Ms Smalley said means more than two in every three drink containers sold in Canberra are returned through a collection point.
“That’s money back into the pockets of Territorians, and … we’ve seen the ACT Container Deposit Scheme deliver huge social benefits,” she said.
“We have community groups, clubs, not-for-profits using it for fundraising, and we know that $292,000 has been raised for those groups through the scheme.”
For now, Canberrans will need to keep on recycling their wine bottles and the like in their yellow recycling bins.
It’s expected that the ACT Government will introduce updated regulations to support the expansion in the coming months.
