To mark the one-year anniversary of the initiative, a new exhibit at the Melbourne Museum will showcase messages about the importance of recycling. Open until January 27, 2025, the exhibit offers children and their families an interactive way to learn more about recycling and the circular economy.

“Victorians have gone gangbusters for our Container Deposit Scheme – saving one billion containers from landfill, putting $100 million back in their pockets and making it the number one scheme in the country,” Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos said in a press release.

Since its launch, over 4,200 donation partners have raised nearly $1 million for charities, and Victorians have recycled an average of 145 containers per return. The week post-AFL Grand Final saw the biggest spike in returns, with more than 26 million containers deposited.

Of the one billion containers returned, about half were aluminium, 30 per cent were plastic and 17 per cent were glass. These will be sorted and recycled into new products, helping to conserve resources and reduce waste.

One of the benefits of recycling through CDS is that the clean stream of containers allows them to be turned into higher quality materials and products than those collected through co-mingled recycling services (such as your household recycling bins). This is because the glass, aluminium, and plastic containers that are collected through CDS are always efficiently sorted and kept separate to prevent contamination.

Prior to the scheme, drink containers were among the most littered items in Victoria, but in just 12 months, one-third of all drink containers have been diverted from landfill. The scheme has also generated 597 new jobs, contributing to the state’s growing recycling industry.

To find out more about the container deposit scheme in your state, visit Recycling Near You. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.