The State Government delivers Containers for Change.
Keen to make a buck out of recycling.
From today you will receive 10 cents per “eligible drink container”, at one of 200 “containers for change” refund points across WA.
The initiative delivers on a key election commitment to improve the State’s recycling.
Almost half of the refund points will be in regional areas, with more than 600 local jobs created to construct and manage them.
People in WA use about 1.3 billion drink containers every year, or 3.5 million a day,
“We know that currently, these containers make up 41 per cent of all litter here in Western Australia,” Mark McGowan said.
It is estimated the scheme will recycle an additional 6.6 billion containers over the next two decades, with 5.9 billion of those containers predicted to have otherwise ended up in landfill.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson encouraged “all Western Australians to get involved”
“I am incredibly proud that Containers for Change is providing so many employment opportunities, with more than 40 per cent of the jobs being filled by those with disability, the long-term unemployed or Aboriginal people,” he said.
Still falling short
A report by the Total Environment Centre said the program was not all it was hyped up to be.
The Government actually committed to a 299 refund point target this year, not 200.
The report also argues that access to the refund points is poor, with 22,809 residents per point, compared to just 13,486.
It said the scheme is “not adequate” in its current form.
The Government will implement the full 299 to be opened “by the end of the scheme’s first year”.
Learn more containersforchange.com.au/wa
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