City Services has marked the fourth anniversary of its Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) by celebrating the tremendous effort of the ACT community which has returned more than 181 million containers.
In a statement, the organisers said over $18 million in refunds had been provided through the Scheme.
“A new scheme performance dashboard is also now live on the ACT CDS website, providing the public with the latest scheme success metrics including number of containers returned to date, redemption rate and participation,” City Services said.
“Currently, three in every four containers supplied into ACT are being redeemed through the Scheme for recycling, including containers returned through one of the 19 return points across the Territory as well as containers collected via resident’s yellow kerbside recycling bins,” it said.
“There are 19 return points available across the ACT including cash-back depots in Fyshwick, Mitchell, Phillip and Belconnen.”
City Services said the Scheme was a partnership between the ACT Government, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change, and network operator Return-It.
Chief Executive of Exchange for Change, Danielle Smalley said the majority of ACT residents participated in the CDS (63 per cent of adults) which had resulted in millions of bottles and cans being recycled instead of ending up as litter or landfill.
Chief Executive of Return-It, Marc Churchin said the Scheme had also delivered social benefits.
“What’s been really heartening to see alongside the environmental outcomes is the social benefits, with the scheme become a fundraising stalwart for many ACT charities, schools and community organisations,” Mr Churchin said.
More information about the Scheme can be accessed at this PS News link.
