Tasmania’s container champions have answered David Foster’s call out last week, with some of the state’s top returners coming forward to share their stories.

From local sports clubs and school P&Cs to pubs, cafes, and community groups, Tasmanians have embraced container refund points and collection services, returning more than 40 million eligible drink containers in just over five months since Recycle Rewards began on 1 May.

Right across the state, stories are emerging of container refunds being put to good use – kickstarting savings accounts, helping local clubs cover travel costs, funding community facilities and supporting grassroots initiatives that keep towns and neighbourhoods thriving. Businesses are also joining in, working with community groups to collect and return containers and keep the benefits circulating locally.

The state’s Number 1 container champion is Derwent Valley Tidy Towns, which to date has returned almost 60,000 containers. Their mission is to create a stable revenue stream to fund their ongoing community clean-ups, increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of recycling that ends up in landfill. To achieve this, they’ve set up a container collection service for local pubs and clubs – educating staff and owners on the benefits of recycling as they go.

On King Island, the local Lions club has returned 17,500 containers. The club has five decades of experience with container collection and, as club secretary Linda Payne explains “we’ve progressed from crushing cans by hand to running them over with a tractor and now [inserting them uncrushed] into the reverse vending machine at Currie.” Refunds are returned to the community in the form of community infrastructure such as barbeques, shelters and picnic tables in the islands parks and green spaces.

But it’s not just well-organised community groups that have embraced Recycle Rewards. Lachlan local William Lane has returned more than 12,000 containers at 10 different refund points around Tasmania – making him our most well-travelled container champion. William collects containers on regular walks with his border collie Mr Sniffy, and is motivated by doing something good for the environment and his own health.

Kerrie Donaldson from tiny Telita near Derby in Tasmania’s northeast used her refunds from more than 11,000 containers returned to pay for car hire on a recent holiday – even splashing out on an upgrade. Kerrie says that Recycle Rewards has been great for the local community. “Now that people have an incentive to recycle, there are a lot less containers on the sides of roads.”  

As TasRecycle CEO Ken Roughley put it, “Container champions are everyday Tasmanians who’ve built container returns into their routines – collecting at home, at work and at weekend events. “They’re showing how simple it is to make a difference, and the results speak for themselves.”

“This program is about more than recycling – it’s about community,” Roughley continues. “Every container returned through Recycle Rewards is a small win for the environment, and when thousands of Tasmanians get involved, those wins become something truly powerful.”

With 44 refund points now open across Tasmania, Recycle Rewards is encouraging all Tasmanians to get involved. Whether you’re collecting at home or work or partnering with a local business, becoming a container champion is an easy way to make a difference. Every 10 cent refund adds up.

Devonport in the state’s northwest is still Tasmania’s number one refund point, followed by Claremont and Cove Hill in the south and Mowbray in the north. Across the regions, approximately 19 million containers have been returned in southern Tasmania, 12 million containers in the north and 9 million in the northwest.

Aluminium continues to be the top material returned, accounting for 62% of returns. Plastics made up 21%, glass 15% and other materials such as steel and liquid paperboard cartoons account for about 2%.

Visit recyclerewards.com.au for more information about Recycle Rewards, including container eligibility, refund point locations, signing up as a Donation Partner and how to make the most of your fundraising effort.