Aims#
The Western Australian Government followed the example set by South Australia many years earlier, and developed a scheme with the goal of reducing the number of recyclable beverage containers that end up in our landfill sites.
Landfill is expensive, requires ever-increasing amounts of land and leaves a long lasting legacy of pollutants, many of which will not bio-degrade for centuries.
New containers, particularly those made of plastic, Aluminium and glass use enormous amounts of energy and resources to produce, whereas recycled products often require far less input of both of these.
The Containers for Change scheme achieves the stated aims of reducing landfill, reducing energy and material inputs and re-using materials. It also has the benefit of keeping our environment much cleaner and free of litter.
Is it working?#
At the time of publishing this web page, the scheme has collected over five billion containers that would have been destined for Western Australia’s landfill sites. At the same time it has provided employment opportunities for commercial vendors and contributed valuable funds to community and not-for-profit groups.
A flow-on effect for tourism is another of the hidden benefits, with travelers from other states and countries often remarking about how clean and litter-free our roadsides are. Word gets around and this can only make WA more popular as a tourist destination.
Flow on effects#
The outstanding success of the scheme has encouraged the government to announce an expansion of the types of containers that will be accepted at collection points, further reducing the volume of waste entering landfill. As of July 1st 2026, the scheme will be expanded to allow wine and spirit bottles, wine casks and additional types and classes of plastic containers to be collected at collection places, with the 10c refund being applicable.
Community benefits#
Our Northampton Community directly benefits from the scheme. With the Men’s Shed hosting a collection place, and collecting more than a million containers each year, it means that at least $70,000 of revenue comes in to our town annually. This money is shared with community and not-for-profit groups who assist the Northampton Men’s Shed with the processing and handling of the containers and the bonus is that our roadsides are much cleaner.
Additionally, more than $100,000 is paid to the individuals and groups who turn their containers into cash. This means a net benefit of more than $170,000 coming into our community every year.
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