Expansion of the Return and Earn container deposit scheme

The scheme is expanding from mid-2027 to include: 

• Wine and spirits containers from 150 mls to 3 litres
• Cordials and juice concentrate containers from 150 mls to 3 litres
• Larger containers up to 3 litres of beverages already in the scheme, like flavoured milk, fruit and vegetable juice
• Plain milk and health tonics will continue to be excluded from the scheme.  

Including more types of drink containers from mid-2027 will: 

• Improve recycling, especially of glass containers.
• Reduce the amount of glass and other recyclable materials going to landfill.
• Align with other states and territories that are doing the same thing, to reduce confusion for consumers and suppliers.  

• The refund amount for eligible containers is set at 10 cents, regardless of a container’s size, shape, or material type. This is consistent across all states and territories. 

• Please keep using your kerbside yellow-lid bin to recycle these containers.
• Where a kerbside service isn’t provided, residents should check with their local council or nearest waste transfer station. 

The expanded Return and Earn scheme will be implemented from mid-2027. 

• This will give industry time to adjust and allow return points and systems to ramp up to accept these new containers.
• Where other states and territories have made similar decisions to expand their own schemes, this timing allows us to work together to make it easy for consumers and suppliers.
• Until then, please continue to recycle your wine and spirits bottles in your yellow-lid household bins.  

We expect the expanded Return and Earn scheme to be implemented from mid-2027. 

• We want to ensure it’s a smooth transition for industry and suppliers across Australia.
• We need to give industry time to adjust and implement new requirements, including labels and barcodes.
• Currently there are over 640 return points located across NSW.
• This gives us time to adapt current infrastructure and systems, including new trucks to transfer the additional containers across the network.
• We are working with the wine and spirits industry, local government, waste management businesses and other impacted stakeholders to make the transition as smooth as possible.
• We also are working with other states and territories to align our implementation plans for our expanded schemes wherever possible, to reduce supplier costs and consumer confusion.
• We thank the community for their patience as we work to implement changes.
• We encourage the community to keep recycling these containers through their yellow-lid kerbside bins until mid-2027.  

Wine, spirits, and other newly introduced containers will only be accepted from mid-2027 because we need to give industry time to adjust and implement their new requirements. 

• Suppliers need to enter into a 'supply arrangement' with the Scheme Coordinator, Exchange for Change, and pay scheme contributions for the containers supplied into NSW.
• These contributions include the refunds paid to consumers and the costs of running the scheme.
• Suppliers will also need approval from the EPA for the types of containers they supply. This makes sure that containers can be recycled effectively through Return and Earn.
• Labels will need to display the ’10 cent refund’ mark and have a compliant barcode.
• More information on supplier requirements and timelines can be found here.
• The Scheme Coordinator and the EPA will work with industry on transition timelines for suppliers to minimise the impact of the changes and support suppliers to comply.

• Australian Environment Ministers have been working to harmonise container deposit schemes in all states and territories to help create a national recycling industry and reduce costs to suppliers and consumer confusion.
• As part of this work, the Heads of Environment Protection Authorities (HEPA) agreed on a preferred expanded scope, encompassing all beverages and beverage containers between 150 ml and 3 litres, excluding plain milk and health tonics.
• NSW EPA included this scope as one of four options in its 2022 Discussion Paper on Driving the NSW Circular Economy. A copy of the consultation summary report is available here.
• A draft cost benefit analysis of the options was also released at the same time.
• All options to expand Return and Earn provided strong net benefits to NSW and were very similar in the benefits they provided.
• The expansion of Return and Earn aligns with the harmonised scope agreed by HEPA. 

• NSW EPA is working closely with other states and territories towards harmonising our approaches and minimising the implementation work required by newly included suppliers.
• In 2021, all Australian Environment Ministers agreed to expand their container deposit schemes to include a broader range of beverage containers, such as wine and spirit bottles.
• Since then, Queensland has already expanded its scheme in 2023 to include glass wine and spirits containers.
• The Northern Territory has also recently announced plans to expand from 2026.
• However, each state has different operational needs.
• To ensure a smooth rollout that reflects local needs, each state will set its own timeline for designing, building and implementing the expansion. 

NSW is staring down a waste crisis – landfill capacity is set to run out for Greater Sydney by 2030.

• Currently, over a third of all glass waste generated by NSW households goes to landfill.
• Recycling rates have stalled at 65%. We need new solutions to reach our 80% target by 2030.
• Return and Earn has shown incredible success in increasing recycling rates and delivering cleaner, higher quality recovered materials. 
• Return and Earn has doubled the recycling rate for beverage containers since it started in 2017.
• So far over 1.1 million tonnes of container materials have been recycled back into high value products.
• By accepting more types of containers NSW is set to boost recycling rates, reduce landfill, and help NSW deliver a circular economy.
• The expansion would see up to an additional 362 million eligible containers eligible for the scheme each year, including 196 million glass containers that can be recycled into higher quality food grade packaging. 

Return and Earn has shown incredible success in increasing recycling rates for beverage containers and delivering cleaner, higher quality recovered materials. 

• Glass collected through the Return and Earn collection points achieves 100% recycling rate and is mostly recycled back into high quality, food-grade glass containers.
• Reducing the amount of glass in our kerbside bins reduces the risk of breakage during collection and transport.
• Broken glass can contaminate other materials in the bin, such as paper and cardboard, as well as become contaminated by small bits of plastic, metal and other debris, making it difficult to recycle.
• Improving the quality of recycled materials helps to improve recycling outcomes and supports a circular economy.