South Australia's drink containers deposit scheme from 1977 as Australia's first and only one for 35 years
South Australia's container deposit scheme turns potential trash into cash for the community.
From 1977, South Australia was the only Australian state or territory with a drink container deposit scheme for 35 years until the Northern Territory introduced one in 2012. Legislation for the scheme was introduced by Don Dunstan’s state government in 1975.
In 2006, the scheme was declared a heritage icon by the National Trust of South Australia.
Disposable drink containers in the 1970s led to a spike in litter in streets, parks, beaches and waterways. Initially, glass bottles attracted a 10 or 20 cent refunds depending on their size. That was reduced to five cents in the 1980s and included the new plastic bottles. In 2003, the South Australian government extended the scheme to cover non-carbonated soft drinks, pure fruit juice and flavoured milk containers. The deposit increased from five to 10 cents for each can or bottle in 2008.
Beverage suppliers add an extra cost to their product to cover the refund, which can be redeemed more than 120 collection depots throughout South Australia. More than six billion containers, clearly marked and sold in South Australia to be claimed for a refund, have been returned under the scheme, with an average annual return of around 80%. This equates to about 583 million containers recovered and recycled, ultimately resulting in reduced landfill waste.
Latest figures also show that 81.5 per cent of all waste in South Australia is diverted from landfill. The state has Australia’s lowest percentage – around 3% – of drink containers in its litter stream.
Each year South Australians, including sporting clubs, charities and the South Australian Scouts Association benefit from the scheme. Almost $60 million was returned to the community in 2016-17. The scheme also has generated between 800-1000 jobs in the beverage container collection and recycling industry. This is besides the unofficial army of individual collectors checking bins and stray litter to cash in on containers.
