(NSW) Include Wine and Spirit Glass Bottles in the 10c Container Deposit Scheme

Lead Author: Rhea Sankar | Supporting Authors: Sophie Bagot Jewitt and Christopher Noonan | Publish date: 08/09/2024

Problem Identification: 

Wine and spirit bottles are currently excluded from the NSW 10c Container Deposit Scheme (CDS).

According to the environmental advocacy organisation Planet Ark, the NSW CDS does not include the approximately 400 million wine and spirit bottles that are used in NSW each year. 

The exclusion of wine and spirit bottles increases the carbon footprint of glass bottles and contributes to lower recycling rates in NSW by causing consumer confusion. 

Context: 

Starting in 2017, NSW's Return and Earn CDS offers a 10c refund for each beverage container returned. This includes plastic bottles, aluminium cans, and cartons. However, the scheme currently excludes certain containers, notably wine and spirit glass bottles. 

The NSW Government has already acknowledged the program's success in incentivising people to return drink containers to collection points which results in over 4 billion items being recycled in the state every year thus far. 

New South Wales faces a significant challenge with its glass recycling rate, with 35% of glass not being recycled. In December of 2022, the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) released a discussion paper on adding more drink containers, including wine and spirit bottles, to the CDS to boost the circular economy. At this stage, the proposal to include wine and spirit bottles is still ‘under review’, with no publicly accessible updates.

The Australian Council of Recycling, Boomerang Alliance, and Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia have been calling for wine and spirit glass bottles to be included. They say this could create jobs, lower the carbon footprint of glass bottles, and deliver a better environmental outcome. 

Marsden Jacob Associates have modelled the benefits of NSW following Queensland’s precedent, by adding wine and spirit bottles to the NSW’s state’s CRS. They say this could save 628,000 tonnes of material from entering landfill over 20 years. Their report further notes that the inclusion of wine and spirit glass bottles has the ‘potential to reduce glass contamination in the kerbside recycling system’ and ‘improve recycling outcomes for both the CDS and the kerbside system’.

There is precedent for this inclusion of wine and spirit bottles in CDS schemes. These bottles were included in Queensland’s CDS in November 2023, with nearly 100% of Queenslanders surveyed in favour of the scheme’s expansion. The program’s success has been noted, with the Queensland Government reporting that 14% more glass bottles were returned just one month after their inclusion.

Solution Identification: 

Amend the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (Container Deposit Scheme) Regulation 2017 (NSW) s 5(1c) to include wine and spirit glass bottles in the CDS, aligning with Queensland.

This could simplify the scheme, incentivise participation, and lower the carbon footprint of glass bottles. 

Advice:

The NSW Minister for the Environment should expand the eligibility criteria of the NSW Government’s CDS to include wine and spirit glass bottles at the earliest opportunity.

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Public Support: 

1. Boomerang Alliance

2. The Australian Council of Recycling

3. Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia

4. Total Environment Centre

Where to go to learn more: 

1. How to improve glass recycling rates:  https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/articles/2022/august/glass-recycling

2. A deeper look into Queensland’s decision to expand their Containers for Change CDS: https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/336311/crs-discussion-paper.pdf

3. PlanetArk Environmental organisation advocating to expand the CDS in NSW: https://planetark.org/newsroom/news/wine-spirits-and-larger-drink-containers-could-be-added-to-nsw-container

Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement: 

N/a

Support 

If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper, or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com. 

Reference list: 

Boaz, J. (2023, January 18). Australia's recycling crisis: Why our waste is piling up and what we can do about it. ABC News.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-18/australia-recycling-landfill-waste-glass-plastic- food-world/101813246

Will Victoria’s container deposit scheme follow Queensland’s lead on wine, spirit bottles? (2024, April 21). ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04- 21/container-deposit-scheme-victoria-australia-wine-and-spirits/103748768 

CSIRO. (2022). Glass recycling: Breaking down the facts. https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/articles/2022/august/glass-recycling

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (2019). National waste policy action plan 2019. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action- plan-2019.pdf

Environmental Protection Authority NSW. (n.d.). Return and earn: container deposit scheme.

https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/recycling-and-reuse/return-andearn

Exchange for Change. (n.d.). Container deposit scheme. https://www.exchangeforchange.com.au/_cache_51b2/content/6531970000008035.pdf

Green Industries SA. (2021). Circular economy and resource recovery report 2020-21: Summary. https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/documents/circular-economy- resource-recovery-report-2020-21-summary.pdf

NSW Government. (2017). Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (Container Deposit Scheme) Regulation 2017. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/sl-2017-0066#sec.5

Packaging News. (n.d.). Call to include wine and spirit bottles in container deposit schemes. https://www.packagingnews.com.au/sustainability/call-to-include-wine-and- spirit-bottles-in-cds

Queensland Government. (2022). Proposal to expand the scope of eligible containers in Queensland’s Container Refund Scheme – Containers for Change. https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/336311/crs-discussion-paper.pdf

Queensland Government. (n.d.-b). Eligible containers. https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/circular-economy-waste- reduction/reduction/container-refund/container-refund-types

Queensland Government. (n.d.-c). Expanding the container refund scheme.

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/circular-economy-wastereduction/reduction/containerrefund/proposedexpansion#:~:text=Survey%20findings&text=Overall%20expansion%20of%20the%20scheme,%3A%2095%25%20are%20in%20support.