Source : Perth Now news
Aussies have pocketed $57.4m from recycling at Return and Earn stations across the nation, smashing records for the busiest time of the year.
The astounding figure has been revealed ahead of Clean Up Australia Day on March 1.
Recyclers in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania recycled more than half a billion – or 574 million containers – over December and January to pocket the millions, the data from Clean Up Australia reveals.
Heralded as first in the world, every Australian state and territory now operates a Container Deposit Scheme or a Return and Earn station where recycling certain cans, bottles or containers can earn Aussies 10c per item.
NSW returned nearly 436 million containers over the two months, with 10.24 million containers returned in a single day on December 22.
It was Clean Up Australia’s second highest recycling record in a single day.
Victoria’s west zone placed second with over 2 million containers returned in 10 separate days during the busy holiday period as Tasmania peaked in its first ever summer launching Return and Earn with 592,030 containers recycled in a single day.
The average Australian consumer uses 146kg of packaging every year, and it remains an urgent challenge in the litter polluting Australia’s environment, represented in the 59.5% of reported litter cleaned last year.
Since 2024, the production of plastics has increased by 122% since the year 2000, and plastics continue to dominate as the most commonly collected litter item over the entirety of 2025, counted at 80.8% of all litter collected.
In states like NSW, where Return and Earn stations have been around for longer, the amount of beverage container litter clogging up local parks, beaches, and rivers has significantly decreased.
Clean Up Australia “expect to see beverage container litter levels decrease in coming years,” the company said in their annual Litter Report from last year.
“Clean Up Australia supports an increase in the refund rate from 10c to 20c or more, to maintain and grow the incentive to recycle within the community and keep up with inflation,” Clean Up Australia said.
According to the latest litter report from last year, 39.1 per cent of the litter reported by volunteers was removed from waterways such as beaches, rivers and creeks, which helps keep plastics and cigarette butts from being local wildlife’s dinner.
Nationally, 24.2 per cent of litter was removed from parks, and 17.8 per cent of litter was cleared from footpaths and roadsides over the entire year by over 1 million dedicated volunteers, who spent 2,060,176 hours for their community.
