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Recycle Rewards is Tasmania’s container refund scheme.

Recycle Rewards is a Tasmanian Government initiative funded by contributions from the beverage industry. It will offer a 10 cent refund to consumers for returning eligible drink containers at refund points across Tasmania.

The scheme aims to reduce Tasmania’s litter of drink containers by up to half, create new economic opportunities, generate new jobs and turn eligible drink containers into new recycled products.

Recycle Rewards is set to launch 1 May 2025.

Tasmanians are encouraged to collect eligible beverage containers and take them to one of the refund points around Tasmania to receive a 10 cent refund per container.

This refund can be received in the form of a voucher to be exchanged for cash at a participating retailer, a deposit into your chosen account such as bank or PayPal, cash (at depots) or donated to a Donation Partner.

We encourage the public not to ‘stockpile’ drink containers, and to continue to recycle as normal in their kerbside recycling bin or public recycling bins.  

This is to ensure that the scheme runs smoothly when it begins, and that every drink container collected and returned for a refund is eligible upon the commencement date.  

No, however, under the Act and Regulations, a statutory declaration may be required where someone is returning more than 1,500 eligible drink containers at a single time. 

Recycle Rewards will be run by a Scheme Coordinator and a Network Operator, under a split responsibility model which was the model chosen by the Tasmanian Government.

TasRecycle has been appointed as Scheme Coordinator and will:

• Manage the financial and administrative aspects of the scheme 
• Conduct audits of the scheme to prevent fraud 
• Pay refund amounts and collection network costs to the Network Operator 
• Report against performance targets set by the government
• Manage marketing and communications for Recycle Rewards, driving awareness and education across Tasmania 

TOMRA Cleanaway has been appointed as Network Operator and they will:

• Establish and maintain a network of refund points
• Distribute refund amounts to consumers
• Distribute payments to refund point operators

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania’s role is regulatory and will provide general oversight of the scheme, which includes contract management and policy setting of the scheme. 

All Tasmanians will benefit from Recycle Rewards as it will increase recycling and decrease litter, create new jobs and economic opportunities for Tasmania.  

There will also be opportunities for charities, community and sports groups to get involved with fundraising by collecting eligible drink containers, registering to receive donations of refunds from others, initiating a collection drive or setting up a donation point for the public to donate their eligible drink containers. 

Participating in Recycle Rewards is the rewarding way to recycle your drink containers. It is a great way to help keep our environment and waterways litter-free, while receiving a 10 cent refund for every eligible drink container you return to a refund point. Once returned, your eligible drink containers become a valuable material for recycling.

Collected eligible drink containers will be sorted into clean material streams and sold to recyclers in Australia and sometimes overseas where local options are not viable. Containers returned in Tasmania will be made into new products including new drink containers.  

The process reduces waste sent to landfill, minimises litter and decreases demand for new raw materials. 

Recycle Rewards is a product stewardship scheme, which means beverage companies pay for the 10 cent refund and operating costs, supporting the Tasmanian Government to ensure Recycle Rewards is convenient and accessible. 

Beverage suppliers play a part in helping to improve recycling rates and reduce the number of drink containers that end up in landfill.  

TasRecycle – which is responsible for managing the marketing, the financial operations, and ensuring the smooth operation of the scheme – is run on a not-for-profit basis.  

Recycle Rewards is expected to create over 50 jobs by TasRecycle and TOMRA Cleanaway, with additional indirect jobs also emerging across related sectors.  

The recycling industry contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy. In other states, container refund schemes have generated hundreds of sustainable jobs. 

Most councils prohibit people from removing rubbish from a bin placed on a footpath. Breaking the local law may result in a fine, particularly if rubbish or litter is left around a bin after it has been rummaged through. If you are affected by this issue, please contact your local council. 

A refund point is a collection place where you can return your eligible drink containers and receive a 10 cent refund for each drink container.

There will be a phased roll-out of a network of 49 refund points established across the state, including on King and Flinders Islands.

This means that about 85% of Tasmanians will be able to access to a refund point within 10km of their home.

Integral to the design of the scheme is the aim to provide all Tasmanians with opportunities to participate in the scheme and get a refund for their eligible drink containers. Previous market research found that the public wished for refund points to be located near their regular retailers, to easily incorporate into their already established routines. This research has informed where refund points will be located.

Community Access Standards have been developed by NRE Tas to establish the minimum requirements for the fair and equitable distribution of the network of refund points across Tasmania. These requirements were designed to specifically respond to the dispersed and regional nature of the Tasmanian population. Fundamentally, they ensure that the scheme remains commercially viable, particularly during the early years of introduction.

The Standards include the provision for ‘pop up’ refund points for popular holiday/tourism areas in peak season, and for charity and community organisations to set up donation points for the collection of eligible drink containers as part of fundraising activities.

The Network Operator’s selection of the locations for refund points is multifaceted, and the proposed locations balance the anticipated quantity of eligible drink containers that are expected to be generated and the capacity of the Network Operator to service each location.

Once the scheme is up and running, the Network Operator will monitor the performance of the network and find opportunities to deploy additional refund points across the State.

The exact location of each refund point is being finalised, and you can now look for your closest refund point using our interactive map.

• Reverse Vending Machine (RVMs) are conveniently located self-service refund points. You will be able to find these near supermarkets and in public spaces across Tasmania once Recycle Rewards launches.  The machines can accept up to 60 drink containers a minute. The majority of refund points in Tasmania will be RVMs.
• Depots are staffed centres that are able to sort and count bulk loads of drink containers. You can walk through or drive through to get your drink containers counted and get your immediate cash or electronic refund.

The Network Operator must ensure that each refund point, including each reverse vending machine, the area in which it is located, and the digital content provided at refund points is accessible to persons with a disability.

Each refund point will be compliant with:

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Anti-discrimination Act 1998 (Tas)
• Disability (Access to premises -buildings) standards 2010 (premises standards); and
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) Level AA

An RVM is a ‘reverse vending machine’ that is a conveniently located self-service refund point. RVMs do not hold cash. You place an empty, eligible drink container into the RVM, the drink container is scanned to verify it is eligible and then you either:

• Receive a paper or e-voucher, which can be spent in store or exchanged for cash at a participating retailer
• Receive a deposit into your chosen account, such as your bank or PayPal, or
• Donate your refund to a registered charity, school, sports club or community group

The costs of Recycle Rewards are paid by beverage suppliers. Suppliers decide what proportion of costs are passed on to consumers. Independent reviews in other states have found no evidence of drink price increases exceeding scheme costs during the first year of implementation.

Consumers in Tasmania will be able to return eligible drink containers to a refund point and receive a 10-cent refund for every eligible drink container.

As an Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP) scheme, beverage producers that supply their products in Tasmania are required by legislation to cover operating costs of the scheme, including the 10 cent refund. Total scheme costs (including payment of refund amounts) include:

TasRecycle Ltd as the Scheme Coordinator (a not-for-profit organisation) is paid a fee to cover costs (at cost) in relation to:

• managing the financial operations, marketing and community education to promote awareness of the scheme, and how, where and what can be returned,
• contract management and the legal and IT tools required to enable this (including first supplier contracting, container registry), and
• auditing and verification activities to maintain scheme integrity and prevent fraud

TOMRA Cleanaway as the Network Operator are paid a fee to:

• establish and maintain a network of refund points including collecting and sorting material
• distribute refund amounts to consumers returning their containers (i.e. the 10c)
• distribute payments to refund point operators

The Tasmanian Government will also recover modest regulatory oversight costs from the scheme, in line with Treasury guidelines on cost recovery. 

These scheme costs are divided on a per container, per material type basis for each eligible drink container supplied into Tasmania. The lack of economies of scale in Tasmania is a key factor in the higher scheme price in Tasmania. As a comparison, the container volume in Tasmania is 1/10^th the size of Victoria.

Over 45% of all litter volume in Tasmania is made up of drink containers and all Tasmanians can help reduce waste and increase recycling rates by participating in Recycle Rewards.

As of March 2025, the Tasmanian scheme is 5.1 cents higher, per container, compared to Victoria (the weighted average cost in Tasmania is 19.8 cents compared to 14.7 cents in Victoria, excluding GST).

Recycle Rewards has been designed by the Tasmanian Government to provide benefits to all Tasmanians by increasing recycling, decreasing litter and creating new jobs and economic opportunities for Tasmania.

There are fixed costs associated with setting up and operating schemes like Recycle Rewards all over Australia. These are necessary to ensure that our scheme is accessible, convenient, financially sound, protected from potential fraud and delivering the unique value the scheme will bring for all Tasmanians.

Ultimately, like with other markets in Tasmania, our size and absence of economies of scale have the greatest impact overall on scheme price. As a comparison, Tasmania’s container volume is around 1/10 the size of Victoria.

Tasmanians are expected to embrace Recycle Rewards and we anticipate redemption rates in Tasmania to be similar to other jurisdictions. Over 45% of all litter volume in Tasmania is made up of drink containers and we all need to work together to do a better job of looking after our greatest asset, our natural environment.

You will be able to donate your refund for eligible drink containers returned at RVMs, selected other refund points and by using the Recycle Rewards app.

You can get in touch with the charity, not-for-profit organisation, school, sports club or community group that you’d like to donate to and suggest they sign up! 

Using the Recycle Rewards app makes it really easy to donate but this is not the only way you can make a donation. RVMs will have selected charities featured on their payment screens and selected other refund points will also be able to make payments to selected charities.

100% of the donated refund goes to your chosen Donation Partner.