The Culburra Beach community will soon have a return point for the NSW container deposit scheme Return and Earn, for people to claim 10 cents on their eligible drink containers.
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The reverse vending machine (RVM) will be located at Culburra Bowling Club.
“Return and Earn is the largest litter reduction initiative to be introduced in NSW, with almost 10 million containers already returned at collection points on the South Coast,” South Coast MP Shelley Hancock said.
“I am delighted to announce this new return point that will ensure everyone in the Culburra community is able to participate in the scheme and return their eligible drink containers easily and conveniently by placing them into the RVM for a refund.”
Meanwhile the return and earn scheme has come under fire recently, amid reports of illegal dumping of milk bottles in Yerriyong State Forest.
Milk bottles are not accepted under the return and earn scheme.
With hundreds of milk bottles left in the forest last week, some residents speculated the bottles had been stockpiled in the hope to earn a rebate, but were abandoned when the dumper discovered they were worthless.
RVMs provide community users a refund in three ways. They can:
Receive the refund into a registered PayPal account by scanning the myTOMRA app code on your smartphone at the machine.
Collect a printed voucher that can be redeemed for either cash or an in-store purchase at the retail partner (such as Woolworths, Coles, IGA).
Donate to one of the donation partners listed on the machine.
“Local community groups, schools, sports groups and charities can also apply to become a local donation partner on the machine so people returning containers to the site can choose to donate them their refund,” Mrs Hancock said.
“I’m so pleased that everybody in the Culburra area will have the opportunity to participate in Return and Earn and help reduce the 160 million drink containers that are littered in NSW every year.”
Drink containers eligible for the 10 cent refund include most containers between 150ml and 3L.
Containers must be intact (not crushed or broken) and have a readable barcode to be eligible for the refund.
Residents can still use their kerbside recycling bins for ineligible drink containers. They can also still place their eligible containers into the kerbside recycling bins or even donate them to local charities or community groups that are collecting them for fundraising purposes.
For more information, including a return point map, eligible drink containers, and how to apply to become a donation partner, visit: www.returnandearn.org.au
