What We Do

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Each year, Western Australians buy more than 1.45 billion 10c drink containers. Sadly, hundreds of millions are not recycled – ending up as litter or in landfill.

Containers for Change is Western Australia’s container deposit scheme and increases recycling rates and reduces litter.

Our objectives are:

  • Increase recovery and recycling of empty beverage containers.
  • Reduce the number of empty beverage containers that are disposed of as litter or to landfill.
  • Ensure that first responsible suppliers of beverage products take product stewardship responsibility.
  • Provide opportunities for social enterprise and benefits for community organisations.
  • Create opportunities for employment.
  • Complement existing collection and recycling activities for recyclable waste.

Containers for Change targets beverage containers that are commonly littered. The types of beverage containers include plastic and glass bottles, paper-board cartons, and steel and aluminium cans between 150 millilitres and three litres.

Examples of beverage containers that can be recycled through Containers for Change are:

  • Soft drink cans and bottles.
  • Bottled waters, both plastic and glass.
  • Small, flavoured milk drinks.
  • Beer and cider cans and bottles.
  • Sports drinks and spirit-based mixed drinks.

WARRRL was appointed on 18 July 2019 as the scheme coordinator for Containers for Change, subject to conditions of appointment. Containers for Change was launched on 1 October 2020.

The container deposit scheme is established under 47X of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007 (WA) (Act) and the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (Container Deposit Scheme) Regulations 2019.

How it Works

Through Containers for Change, members of the community can return their 10c drink containers for a refund, which can either be personally collected or donated to a charity, community group, or not-for-profit registered with Containers for Change.

Containers can be returned to:

  • Refund points, where the refund can be collected or donated;
  • Donation points run by local community groups, charities, or not-for-profits, where the organisation can then return the container and receive the refund as a donation.

Where your containers go

After your containers are returned, they join other recycled goods that are sold through an international online auction portal.

Recyclers turn these containers into many useful products, including new containers, road base, kitchen foil, shoes, tissue paper and construction materials. Some items, like glass and aluminium, can be infinitely recycled without any loss of quality.

This reuse of resources is known as a circular economy and is an important part of reducing society’s environmental impact.

To get involved or find more information on how 10c containers are recycled, visit the Containers for Change website.