The Queensland government will expand its popular Containers for Change program, to include glass wine and glass spirit bottles from November, following overwhelming public support for the scheme.
It means Queenslanders will get 10 cents for every glass wine and glass spirit bottle deposited at one of 360 container refund points across the state.
QLD government says the commitment to expand the scheme follows an extensive consultation period, where some 6,600 Queenslanders shared their thoughts about including additional containers in the refund program.
Some 98 per cent of participants were in favour of more containers being made eligible for refunds through the program.
The government says the container refund scheme has recovered 6.4 billion containers since its launch in Queensland in 2018, refunding $630 million to Queenslanders, and creating 815 jobs as a result.
The addition of glass wine and spirit bottles is expected to build on the existing benefits of the program, especially around the recovery of additional glass for remanufacturing.
To ensure all Queenslanders can participate in the expanded scheme later this year, the QLD government is working closely with Container Exchange (COEX), which manages the Containers for Change program, to make sure industry and facilities will be ready, with six months to prepare.
Environment minister Meaghan Scanlon said, “When we launched Containers for Change five years ago, only 18 per cent of beverage containers were being recovered and recycled in Queensland.”
“Since then that number has grown threefold, with Queenslanders having returned six billion containers and receiving $630 million in return,” she added.
Container Exchange CEO Natalie Roach said, “So far 2023 has been a record-breaking year for the Containers for Change program with more containers collected than ever before, and we look forward to the expansion, and returning even more cash back to Queenslanders whilst saving even more valuable recyclable material from ending up litter or landfill.”
Toby Hutcheon, Campaign Manager, Boomerang Alliance also commented on the program, he said, “Beer bottles are already part of the scheme and attract a 10 cent refund, so there is no reason why wine and spirit bottles should be excluded.
“Mixed glass collected for recycling remains a problem, so including more glass in the scheme, where quality and value are retained, will make recycling easier and help the industry," he concluded.
