Recycle Rewards brings this year’s National Recycling Week theme “Join the Cycle” to life with a behind-the-scenes look at what happens after a container is returned to a Recycle Rewards reverse vending machine or depot.
Eight Tasmanian schoolkids are helping show what happens to an eligible drink container after it leaves our hands, in a new Recycle Rewards video released for National Recycling Week.
With this year’s theme, “Join the Cycle”, the video follows the journey of a container from purchase to return at a Recycle Rewards refund point, through a container sorting facility and on to recycling into new products, such as new drink containers.
The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the processes and infrastructure that help give eligible drink containers another life, making the concept of a circular economy tangible for young Tasmanians and their families.
Every eligible container returned through the scheme is collected for sorting and processing. While the final destination depends on the material and recycling pathway, separating containers through a dedicated return system helps give valuable resources a better chance of being recovered.
This National Recycling Week, Recycle Rewards is encouraging Tasmanians to “Join the Cycle” by returning eligible drink containers, talking to children about what happens to recyclable materials, and helping make container returns part of everyday life.
Since launching in May 2025, Tasmanians have returned almost 190 million eligible containers to Recycle Rewards refund points, delivering significant environmental benefits including:
- 50% reduction in drink container litter
- 93% increase in eligible drink container recycling
- Almost 30,000 tonnes of CO2-eq emission saved
- More than 7,200 tonnes of drink containers sent for recycling
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.