Georges River Council has installed 20 Return and Earn bin baskets on public bins in an effort to boost recycling in public areas and keep eligible bottles and cans out of the litter stream and landfills.
The bin baskets are attached to council bins in high-traffic areas and enable people to leave their drink containers for collection.
Residents or community groups can then easily collect the containers from the bin baskets. They can then recycle at a nearby Return and Earn location for the 10cent refund, Council said in a statement.
A recent trial was conducted by the Return and Earn scheme coordinator Exchange for Change. It found the bin baskets were effective at reducing drink containers going into the public bins and landfill by up to 80%.
The Return and Earn bin baskets have been installed at key locations including:
- Kogarah CBD
- Hurstville CBD
- Carss Bush Park, Carss Park
- Poulton Park, Hurstville Grove
Mayor Elise Borg said Georges River residents are already enthusiastic recyclers at home, returning more than 127 million eligible bottles, cans and cartons through local return points since Return and Earn began in 2017.
“The bin baskets are a simple solution to keep recyclable drink containers out of landfill,” the Mayor said.
“Anyone out and about can now just leave their empty bottle or can in one of the bin baskets for someone else to collect.
“This simple act gives someone else the chance to claim the refund, whether it’s a child collecting for extra pocket money or a local group collect as part of their fundraising. It keeps our local environment clean while helping our community.”
More than 15 billion drink containers have been returned for recycling through the network of over 660 return points across NSW, resulting in over $1.5 billion in container refunds back in people’s pockets.
The are currently nine return points in the Georges River area for residents to recycle their containers.
Visit the Return and Earn website to find your nearest location.
The bin baskets were provided by Exchange for Change as part of its Return and Earn Bin Baskets for Councils program.
