About Containers for Change

Queensland’s container refund scheme, Containers for Change, gives people an incentive to collect and return containers for recycling, in exchange for a 10-cent refund payment.

The scheme helps to:

• reduce the amount of drink containers that are littered
• increase Queensland’s recycling rate.

It also provides benefits to social enterprises and communities across the state by creating new job, recycling and fundraising opportunities.

How the scheme works

Queenslanders can return eligible containers via a container refund point. Container refund points have been established across Queensland to collect eligible empty containers in exchange for the payment of a refund.

For Queenslanders who prefer to donate their drink containers to a community group, sports club or another organisation, container return points can direct the 10 cent refund payment to a registered group. In addition, some groups will run their own container donation points at which the refund payment will be retained by them.

To learn more please visit the Containers for Change website.

How the scheme was established

Containers for Change is a product stewardship arrangement with the costs of operating the scheme and recovering the containers for recycling, paid for by drink manufacturers. This means that drink manufacturers take responsibility for ensuring that the environmental impacts from the empty drink containers are reduced.

The Queensland Government appointed the industry-based, not-for-profit group Container Exchange (CoEx) as the Product Responsibility Organisation (PRO), to develop and run the container refund scheme in Queensland.

The PRO is responsible for ensuring that an effective and efficient scheme operates in Queensland, and that there is convenient and state-wide access to container refund points.

CoEx has been appointed as the Product Responsibility Organisation (PRO) as it has the structure and experience required to undertake this product stewardship scheme.