Community members are encouraged to pop their bottles and cans into baskets attached to a selection of local bins, as part of a trial to connect people with the Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic).
Donation baskets will be installed on 100 local park and street litter bins in late June-early July as part of a pilot project, in partnership with CDS Vic.
Yarra Ranges Mayor, Jim Child, said that the baskets will mean that locals and sporting clubs can easily collect cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and other eligible containers, take them to a refund point, and collect the refund for themselves.
“We know that a lot of recyclable items get put in local bins – plastic bottles and aluminium cans, mostly – and that these are unnecessarily sent to landfill,” Cr Child said.
“These public bins can’t be sorted to filter out these recyclables, because of the extreme amount of contamination that occurs.
“We also know that many people have taken up Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme, which is a terrific way to make sure drink containers are recycled and earn a little bit of money along the way.
“Other states, including Western Australia and New South Wales, have introduced baskets like these, to public bins with great success.
“We think this will have a great benefit for local sporting clubs, where every dollar makes a difference, and for people who are just after a little extra change.”
Jim Round, chief executive officer of scheme coordinator VicReturn, said that while almost 2 billion containers (1.92 billion) have been returned through CDS Vic since the scheme’s launch in November 2023, capturing containers in public spaces remains a key challenge.
“The idea is simple – if you’re enjoying a drink while out and about, pop the can or bottle in the basket when you’re done. Anyone passing by can then collect the containers, take them to a CDS Vic refund points and get the 10c return,” Mr Round said.
Most towns in the Yarra Ranges will have at least one donation basket installed as part of the pilot
