Recyclers say a 10¢ container refund has no ‘pulling power’. They want it doubled
By Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Australia’s biggest recycling businesses are lobbying to double the refunds in container deposit schemes to 20¢ in a bid to boost return rates and reduce litter while backing the food and beverage industry push for a national approach.
In a letter to state and territory environment ministers sent on Wednesday, a coalition of recyclers and not-for-profit organisations called for an increase in the container refund amount to match the top-performing countries in Europe.
“The reality is that in 2025, a 10¢ refund does not have the pulling power needed to significantly increase consumer engagement in container deposit schemes,” the letter says.
As a result, the letter says, billions of recyclable bottles and cans are still ending up in landfill or as litter – 1.3 billion PET plastic soft drink bottles last year alone.
A bottle of beer weighs less than 20 years ago because manufacturers were using less glass.Credit: ninevms
The letter is signed by recycling companies Pact Group, Cleanaway, TOMRA and Re.Group, and not-for-profit groups Boomerang Alliance and Reloop Pacific. Pact Group, which last year recycled about 77 per cent of all the plastic beverage bottles collected through container deposit schemes, has also lobbied the federal government and was told refund amounts were a state issue.
Collection rates are above 90 per cent in nine of the top 10 performing schemes in Europe, the letter says, compared with 68 per cent in NSW. Refunds in Europe range from €0.10 (18¢) in Estonia, €0.20 (35¢) in Finland and €0.25 (44¢) in Germany.
The letter pointed out that the 10¢ amount had not been adjusted since 2008, when South Australia increased its refund per bottle and can from 5¢, and called for periodic reviews to make sure the rate kept pace with the cost of living. It also called for more return points, such as allowing people to return bottles and cans to retailers, which is common in Europe.
In anticipation that foreign-owned beverage companies would oppose the increase, the letter argued there would be no cost-of-living impact on consumers who returned their bottles and cans, while it would boost income for charities and low-income earners.
Australian Beverages Council chief executive Geoff Parker said he strongly rejected the idea, which overlooked the real barrier that too many Australians did not have convenient return points.
“A higher refund amount will also mean a direct cost increase for consumers at the checkout, amidst ongoing cost-of-living pressures, with no guarantee of improved recycling outcomes,” Parker said. “Any industry sector calling for more burden on household budgets is clearly out of touch with everyday Australians.”
Separately, packaging giant Visy has told Environment Minister Murray Watt that container deposit schemes should be expanded to include all glass, but households should also have the option of a fourth kerbside bin for glass recycling. Visy’s recycling arm processes nearly 60 per cent of all kerbside collections.
Visy chairman Anthony Pratt greets Unilever chief Nick Bangs at the 2025 Recycling Roundtable.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Visy chief executive Mark De Wit made his comments at the Recycling Roundtable on Tuesday co-hosted by Visy chairman Anthony Pratt and Nine Publishing. The event was also attended by executives from major consumer companies such as Arnott’s Biscuits, the Kraft Heinz Company, Asahi, Lion, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Nestle and Unilever.
De Wit said the purple-lidded bin for glass recycling pioneered by Victoria should be adopted nationally, and consumers should be fined for putting glass in the yellow-lidded mixed recycling bin.
“The purple bin dedicated to glass recycling should be available nationally, especially in metropolitan areas, but it should be opt in and user pays,” De Wit said. “If you don’t want to opt in, you’ve got to collect your glass at home and take it to a container deposit scheme.”
Glass, unlike plastic or paper, can be recycled repeatedly without losing any properties. De Wit said the average glass bottle had 64 per cent recycled content, up from 30 per cent five years ago.
Australia is fully covered by container deposit schemes for beverage cans and bottles, and this has increased recycling and reduced litter. However, De Wit said 40 per cent of glass was still recycled through households’ kerbside bins, even in states where the container scheme accepted wine and spirit bottles.
That posed a problem because packaging manufacturers had made their materials lighter, De Wit said, so a beer bottle today weighed much less than one 20 years ago. While it used fewer natural resources and less energy, it was more prone to breaking.
“You throw it in your recycling bin, it goes in the back of a truck, it bounces all its way to a [material recovery facility], it gets pushed by a front-end loader onto conveyor belts, and it is smashed to smithereens by the time it goes through all that.”
As a result, half of the glass collected in kerbside bins was lost and unable to be recycled, while shards of broken glass became embedded in cardboard and paper and later caused problems at the recycling mill.
Visy chief Mark De Wit and Asahi group chief Amanda Sellers at the 2025 Recycling Roundtable.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
The Victorian government is planning to make purple-lidded kerbside bins for glass recycling standard across the state in 2027. However, about 30 councils are lobbying to ditch purple bins and expand the container deposit scheme instead, citing cost and residents lacking space for the fourth bin.
The National Kerbside Collections Roadmap does not mandate a dedicated glass recycling bin but specifies that the colour should be purple, along with red for landfill, yellow for mixed recycling and green for organic waste.
De Wit also called for the eight different container deposit schemes around Australia to have the same rules, a point backed by several attendees.
Environment Minister Murray Watt at the 2025 Recycling Roundtable.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Asahi group chief executive Amanda Sellers said it was important to increase the number of return points and to include wine and spirits bottles and food-grade packaging.
“Every scheme is different, and that does present some challenges for large and small businesses alike,” Sellers said.
Lisa Rippon-Lee, vice president of sustainability for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said it was a “huge administrative burden” to add hundreds of barcodes to each scheme.
Watt told attendees he would work with the states and territories, but could not “bully or cajole” them.
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