Scheme Expansion Hub

The WA CDS delivers clear environmental and economic benefits. It has significantly improved recycling rates, increasing from 32 per cent before commencement to 66 per cent in2024/25. Five billion 10¢ containers have been collected, with every one of them recovered for recycling. 

The Scheme supports over 846 jobs, including 53 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and 127 people with disability. Around 40 per cent of refund points are operated by social enterprises, demonstrating strong community engagement and local benefit. The scheme has also delivered over $18 million in fundraising for charities, schools and community groups, with over 8,000 organisations now benefiting. 

We guarantee that every 10¢ container returned to a Containers for Change refund point will be recycled. Australia’s internal capacity for recycling of some materials remains limited. However, investment in recycling infrastructure and innovation should see more options develop for on-shore recycling.

In the meantime, we sell materials recovered through Containers to Change to authorized recycling facilities locally, interstate and overseas.

Glass captured in the Scheme is sorted by colour and crushed in Perth, before being transferred to Orora in the Barossa Valley, where it is turned into new glass bottles. Orora has a strong appetite for glass from Containers for Change because it is high quality and so has significant additional benefits for the environment; the production of recycled glass uses 30% less energy than virgin glass and recycling 1,000kg of glass conserves more than 1,000kg of raw materials such as sand, soda ash, limestone and alumina.

Aluminum is sold to authorized recyclers overseas as there are no facilities in Australia at this time. In 2024-25, aluminum from the Scheme was sold to recyclers in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea

Drink cartons, such as chocolate milk cartons, are recycled in Spain.

Approximately 20 per cent of steel received through the Scheme is recycled in NSW and WA, with 80 per cent being purchased by recyclers in India.

Plastic PET containers are recycled in Australia into new beverage containers.

Plastic HDPE containers are all recycled in Australia.

Funds received from First Responsible Suppliers and the proceeds of sales of materials to recyclers are used to pay refunds to consumers and to cover the costs of operating the Scheme.  

The Western Australian Government appointed WARRRL to establish and operate the CDS. WARRRL is a registered not-for-profit organisation and is committed to operating an effective, convenient, accessible and low-cost container deposit scheme for Western Australia; ensuring consumers can collect a 10c refund for each eligible container and that the Scheme provides significant benefits through reduced beverage container litter, increased recycling rates and opportunities for community participation and involvement. 

The container deposit scheme is an extended producer responsibility scheme and is funded by beverage companies to ensure the materials they supply into the Western Australian market are recycled responsibly.

Container scheme costs in Western Australia are one of the lowest nationwide, sitting at a weighted average cost of 13.61 cents per 10¢ container. 

Beverage companies can legally pass on the supply amount applied to containers to their customers. 

Additional income is generated for the Scheme through the sale of materials for recycling. The high quality and low contamination of containers returned to Containers for Change refund sites means the materials are highly sought after by recyclers. 

WARRRL is aware of claims by members of the WA wine industry that the container deposit scheme could add $1.25 to the price of every bottle of wine. However, independent reviews do not support claims of a $1.25 price increase per bottle. 

Containers for Change is an environmental initiative focused on boosting recycling and building a circular economy for beverage containers. All major beverage types already participate, including those with existing tax obligations, including beer and spirit producers.

Beverage suppliers pay an average of 13.61 cents per container in Western Australia – one of the lowest nationwide. Suppliers can legally pass on that amount to their customers. 

However, the WA Economic Regulation Authority has found the average alcoholic beverage price increased by just 3.9 cents per container following the launch of the container deposit scheme in 2020.  

Absolutely – because the glass collected through Containers for Change is such high quality it is sought after for bottle-to-bottle recycling.

Glass is endlessly recyclable without a loss in quality, and so by returning your glass 10c containers to Containers for Change you’re saving precious virgin materials from being used.

WARRRL’s glass recycling partner, Orora, has shared the following key information on glass recycling:

• Recycling 1,000kg of glass through Containers for Change conserves more than 1,000kg of raw materials.
• Recycling glass containers through Containers for Change means materials such as sand, soda ash, limestone, alumina + other products don’t need to be mined and processed for container glass manufacturing.
• Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from recycled glass.
• The energy saved from recycling just one glass bottle could operate a 100-watt light  bulb for up to four hours.
• Both sodium carbonate (soda ash) and calcium carbonate (limestone) release large quantities of CO2 upon melting in the glass production process.
• For every 6,000kg of cullet (recycled glass) used in the manufacturing feed, it lowers the CO2 emissions by ~1,000kg.
• Every 10% of cullet that replaces virgin batch reduces energy use by 2–3%.
• It is estimated that it takes approximately 1 million years for a glass bottle to break down in landfill.  

Yes – a container becomes reportable at the point of supply in WA (even though it may not have been sold to an end consumer). 

Section 47c of the Waste Avoidance and Recovery Act 2007 defines ‘supply’ as:

• To supply, by the way of sale or otherwise, in the course of carrying on a business; or
• To supply free of charge for a commercial or promotional purpose but does not include a transaction or class of transactions prescribed by the regulations not to be a supply.  

The State Government has proposed that if the bottle is sold between 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2029 it falls within a transition period and will not require a barcode or 10c mark. 

A further transition period will apply from 1 July 2029 to 1 July 2039 for wine and spirits that have been cellared before 1 July 2029 by their producer for aging purposes before sale.