Industry
Beverage suppliers
Section 68 of the Environment Protection Act 1993 requires that containers for beverages sold in South Australia must be approved by the EPA before being offered for sale at a retail outlet.
Some beverage containers remain outside of the scope of the legislation – such as glass bottles used for wine and spirits, all containers for plain milk, and large containers (more than 1 litre) for pure fruit juice and flavoured milk.
The EPA will assess the refund marking on the container and the waste management arrangement (WMA) that has been established to ensure the 10-cent refund is available upon return of the container and the container is collected for recycling.
Guidelines for container approval
Application for approval of class of container
Waste management arrangement (WMA)
The legislation defines a WMA as an arrangement for the collection, sorting and aggregation of containers of that class when empty and their reuse, recycling or other disposal. A contract with a super collector is a WMA, and under this contract the beverage supplier declares its South Australian sales and pays the refund and handling fee to the super collector who passes the refund on to the consumer via the collection depot.
Revocation of approvals
It is a condition of approval that an effective and appropriate WMA remain in place. If a WMA is cancelled due to failure to pay the super collector or because sales have not been declared, it may result in the approval being revoked.
Category A or Category B containers?
Category A containers are approved to be returned for refund to any outlet where that beverage is sold. Less than 1% of beverages sold in South Australia are approved for this return method, mainly because retailers are extremely reluctant to handle, store and then recycle empty beverage containers. This return method may only suit a specialist retailer that imports beverages. If you select this category, you will need to provide evidence that you have a WMA in place for the payment of refunds and the recycling of containers.
Category B containers are approved to be returned to collection depots for a 10-cent refund. The majority of beverages sold in South Australia are approved for this return method. A WMA for this return method is by way of a contractual arrangement with one of the super collectors.
Refund markings
The following refund markings are approved for beverage containers sold in SA:
Category A container
'10c refund at points of sale when sold in SA'
Category B container
'10c refund at collection depots when sold in SA'
or
'10c refund at SA/NT collection depots in State/Territory of purchase'
or
'10c refund at collection depots/points in participating State/Territory of purchase'
Note: 'SA' may be expanded to 'South Australia'.
Important note: approval cannot be granted for any other version of the refund marking other than that specified.
The numeric (10) in the statement must be a minimum of 3 mm and the wording a minimum of 1.5 mm (ie the smallest letter in the statement must not be less than 1.5 mm).
Common Refund Marking
With the introduction of a container deposit scheme in NSW on 1 Dec 2017 and new schemes starting in QLD, ACT in 2018 and WA in 2019, a new ‘common’ refund marking has been developed for use in all jurisdictions operating a container deposit scheme.
Approved beverage containers may now display the following statement:
10c refund at collection depots/points in participating State/Territory of purchase
Beverage containers sold in SA, may continue to use the previous statements or change to the common refund marking.
Beverage containers less than 150 ml in size are only included in the SA and NT schemes and do not need to change to the common refund marking.
Please note only approved refund markings can be used on beverage containers. Incorrect versions may result in beverages being removed from sale at retailers.
Refer to the Guidelines for Beverage Container Approval for more information on refund markings.
Collection depots
A collection depot is a facility or premise for the collection and handling of approved beverage containers presented for refund and includes a reverse vending machine.
Section 69 of the Act states that a person must not operate a collection depot without the approval of the Authority.
Guidelines
Applications
- Approval of collection depot
- Approval of collection depot ─ reverse vending machine (RVM)
- Vary an approval for a collection depot
The EPA will assess the suitability of the proposed waste management arrangement to ensure the refund is paid and the containers are aggregated for recycling.
Recyclers of South Australia (RSA) is an industry association that represents the majority of approved collection depots in South Australia.
Super collectors
A super collector collects, handles and delivers for reuse, recycling or other disposal, containers received from collection depots. Section 69 of the Act states that a person must not carry on business as a super collector without the approval of the EPA.
Super collectors have WMAs with beverage suppliers and collection depots.
There are currently three approved super collectors in South Australia.
Retailers
A retailer is a person whose business includes selling a beverage and covers the owner of a vending machine (unless that vending machine has been leased to someone else). Retailers must ensure that beverage containers they sell have been approved by the EPA. Retailers are under no obligation to accept delivery of empty containers or pay the refund amount in exchange for delivered containers unless they sell a category A container (approved for a refund at points of sale) and it is returned for refund.
Section 69B of the Act provides penalties for retailers selling containers that are not approved containers without a refund marking or containers that retailers know do not have a WMA in place.