By Tyler Wright
Community members in the Dandenong Ranges are celebrating the beginning of a positive era for the environment as the state’s Container Deposit Scheme begins.
To mark the kick off of the program – which will see Victorians able to receive a 10 cent refund for every container delivered to their local drop off point – locals met in Emerald on Wednesday 1 November.
Australians for Refunds on Cans and Bottles (AFROCAB) group convenor and Menzies Creek resident Peter Cook has been advocating for the initiative for decades.
“I started in 2002 and I’ve been doing various things in that time,“ Mr Cook said.
“We published a list in The Age and the Sun-Herald to the premier of 240 community groups across Victoria who support this, and we also did a community litter report where we did over 50 roadside surveys around Victoria that showed how big a problem it is everywhere, numerous protests on the steps of parliament, big banners and built a boat out of cans and bottles, which we had across the Aura Vale Lake.
“We’ve done a smorgasbord of things over the years to get community support behind this and politicians on board and it’s been a long journey, but today makes all those things worthwhile.“
Speaking to locals at the Emerald SES Unit on Wednesday, Mr Cook gave a cheers for the “thousands of community groups“ around the state who have worked to stop plastics being buried in the land and ending up in rivers, creeks and oceans.
“I think what we’ll see in the weeks and months ahead is other community groups in Emerald also come on board and collecting cans and bottles from their members and their supporters,“ he said.
“It’s a way of raising funds to enable them to continue the important things that they do.
“It’s a win-win situation; it’s a win for the environment, It’s a win for the community.“
Emerald SES will be an accessible drop off point for locals, with deputy controller Olinka Edwards jumping at the chance to help the community recycle their plastics rather than dispose of them in landfill.
“When Peter contacted me, he wanted some faces of community groups that could benefit,” Ms Edwards said.
“The idea of the SES getting behind it is obviously to better our community to give people a place to go, and while they’re also coming here give them the opportunity to come face to face with some of our members and give us the opportunity for community education.
“We could never do any of these things when we were down at Sheriff Road and now we’ve got this facility here [on Belgrave-Gembrook Road] it’s like ’okay, how can we help out the community?’“
The Emerald SES Unit, located at 277-289 Belgrave-Gembrook Road, will be open from 6pm to 9pm on Mondays, 5pm to 9pm on Wednesdays, 11am to 4pm on Thursdays, and 5pm to 9pm on Fridays.
Ms Edwards said money donated from the scheme will help put petrol in the unit’s trucks, chainsaws and other equipment to help the community.
“By them coming to us, into the door, they get to see what our facilities are like, they get to see members in person and also perhaps even join up,” she said.
Reverse vending machines, depots, over-the-counter sites, and pop-up refund points will be the four ways people can return their eligible containers – and depending on the type of refund point, people can choose whether they want to receive the refund in the form of cash, a retail voucher, or an electronic refund.
Victorians can also choose to donate their refund to a charity or community organisation registered with the scheme.
Eligible containers include non-concentrated fruit or vegetable juice, flavoured milk, beer, soft drink and mixed spirits.
Ineligible containers for refund include glass wine bottles, glass spirit bottles, juice bottles over one litre, cordial bottles, milk (other than flavoured milk), concentrated fruit or vegetable juice and health tonics.
VicReturn is the scheme coordinator, while zone operators Return-It, TOMRA Cleanaway, and Visy will establish and oversee the refund points and refunds to customers, as well as ensuring proper recycling of the containers.
Within nine months of the scheme starting, the zone operators will be required to have a minimum of one collection point per 14,500 people in metropolitan areas, at least one per town of 750 people in regional areas, and at least one per town of 350 people in remote areas.
Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos said the state government’s Container Deposit Scheme will reduce the amount of litter in Victoria by up to half – contributing to a “more sustainable future“ while putting money “back in the pockets“ of hardworking Victorians.
“CDS Vic will maximise the number of cans, bottles and cartons being recycled into new products and keep them out of landfill,” Mr Dimopoulos said.
IGA Cockatoo on Fairbridge Lane and Emerald Wellness Pharmacy on Belgrave-Gembrook Road are among the participating drop off points.
Monbulk Cellars is also taking part.
To find a drop off location near you, visit cdsvic.org.au/locations and type in your postcode or suburb name.
Refund points are evolving and will be updated on the CDS site daily.
Return-It has an app available on both Android and iOS which the public can use to receive electronic payments, track their refunds and find refund points.
