GANNAWARRA residents have cashed in thousands of plastic containers as part of Victoria’s new container deposit scheme.
Volunteers at the Cohuna Neighbourhood House designated refund depot hit the ground running, as the region quickly embraced the opportunity to take part.
Cohuna Neighbourhood House manager Tanya Black said the scheme had been well supported within the local community in its first week of operation.
“We are excited to be a part of Victoria’s container deposit scheme, and help make recycling more convenient and accessible for our community,” Ms Black said.
“We believe that this is a great way to increase recycling and reward the local community.”
Within the first two days, the collection point had already accepted more than 1000 eligible drink containers.
“We’ve been quite busy and have a backlog which we have to process, but it’s a great scheme and we have quite a few volunteers helping out with it,” Ms Black said.
Participants receive a refund of 10 cents per eligible container, which can be redeemed in cash, electronic transfer, or as a donation to a charity or community group.
Ms Black urged local community organisations to consider signing up as a donation partner.
“If someone decides to donate their refund, money will be donated to a community organisation which has signed up as a donation partner,” Ms Black said.
Within the Gannawarra Shite, Visy was the zone operator for the scheme.
Visy general manager of the container deposit scheme Tim O’Donnell said they would continue to establish a network of depots, over-the-counter refund points and reverse vending machines for returning eligible drink containers.
“By working with Cohuna Neighbourhood House we’ll be able to reward the Cohuna and district community for every eligible drink can, carton and bottle they return,” Mr O’Donnell said.
At present Cohuna Neighbourhood House is the only registered refund point in the shire.
However, more sites across the state were expected to open in the near future, with zone operators required to meet specific targets by August next year.
This included having one collection point per town of 750 people in regional areas and at least one per town of 350 people in remote areas.
Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulous said the scheme would help to reduce landfill, supporting the State Government’s target of diverting 80 per cent of all material away from landfill by 2030.
“(The 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,” he said.
