Container deposits
South Australia’s container deposit scheme (CDS) keeps our state free from unsightly beverage litter. Many people who visit South Australia comment on our clean streets, parks, beaches and river systems.
South Australia introduced its container deposit legislation (CDL) in 1977, and in 2017 celebrated its 40th anniversary. Our container deposit scheme continues to be a highly successful product stewardship program for litter reduction and resource recovery.
The container deposit scheme is one of the first pieces of environmental legislation to focus on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, meaning that the person who discards an empty container forfeits the right to the refund, and someone else can benefit by picking it up and collecting that refund.
It is also one of the first pieces of ‘product stewardship’ legislation in which industry is obliged to take greater responsibility for its packaging after it has been sold. In the case of a CDS, beverage suppliers must ensure that a system is in place for the recovery and recycling of their empty beverage containers
South Australia leads the nation in the recovery, recycling and litter reduction of beverage containers with a current, overall return rate of 76% in 2020–21. Beverage containers make up only 2.8% of litter because of this refund scheme.
South Australians enjoy the convenience of an extensive depot network to return eligible empty containers. Many of the depots accept a wide range of other recyclable materials making them a ‘one stop shop’ for the public. Our depots are ideal for returning large amounts of beverage containers and many South Australians store their empty bottles and cans for a few months before taking them back in one load for a refund.
Each year around 600 million drink containers (over 40,000 tonnes) are returned by South Australians for refund and recycling, preventing those containers from being littered or sent to landfill..
The container deposit scheme also provides a financial benefit to community groups, sporting clubs and charities that collect empty containers for refund.
Review of Container Deposit Scheme
Much has changed since the start of the CDS in 1977, including in terms of types of containers, consumer choices, technology, and markets for recycled materials. It is therefore important to look for opportunities to improve the CDS in a modern context, both in terms of its role in recycling, and in litter reduction. This includes considering lessons learned by other CDS jurisdictions in Australia and across the world.
Improving South Australia’s recycling makes cents!
During January–March 2019, South Australians were invited to provide feedback on the scoping paper, Improving South Australia’s Recycling Makes Cents. The paper and summary launched the public conversation about opportunities to improve the state’s CDS.
A Scoping Paper Consultation Summary Report has been completed on the submissions, comments and survey results received as part of the scoping consultation.
CDS Review Reference Group
The CDS Review Reference Group was formed to represent the range of interests within the CDS – collection depots, super collectors, manufacturers, retailers, waste industry associations, non-government organisations and community groups. Its purpose is to provide advice to the government about key issues and opportunities, provide data and information to inform evidence based decision making, and assist in evaluating options and support implementation of improvements.
The first meeting was held on 15 February 2019 to provide information to key stakeholders about the review and to workshop key issues and opportunities.
The second meeting was held on 10 April 2019 and invited comment on how the issues discussed in the scoping paper should be addressed, as well as discussing specific issues around governance of the CDS.
The third meeting was held on 5 September 2019 and invited comment on the key issues proposed for inclusion in the CDS Review discussion paper, as well as exploring engagement opportunities for the CDS Review.
EPA Board CDS Summit
The EPA Board hosted a CDS Summit on 21 May 2019 where key issues relating to governance were explored.
The Summit was informed by 2 expert panels. The first, NSW and QLD government representatives, spoke on their recently commenced CDS in NSW and QLD respectively followed by Q and A.
The second panel comprised 4 members of the SA CDS Review Reference Group representing the views of local government, NGOs, collection depots, super collectors, retailers and manufacturers.
There was broad support from participants for a review of the SA CDS to realise opportunities in the following areas:
- Increase the contribution of CDS to resource recovery and a circular economy.
- Continue to achieve the CDS’s litter reduction objective.
- Further embed product stewardship obligations.
- Build on the unique historic attributes of the SA CDS that have helped establish and maintain its enduring success.
- Build on community support and participation in the scheme.
- Maintain SA’s reputation as a world leader in resource recovery.
Participants acknowledged the value of experiences with container refund schemes in other jurisdictions, noted opportunities for national harmonisation for some elements, and agreed on the importance of continued conversation with industry and community.
Next steps
The Government is committed to continued conversation with industry and community.
Further analysis is being undertaken to build on the information received during the review so far, and will inform which reforms are to be further considered in the review and presented in a discussion paper.
The discussion paper and associated broad public consultation will provide stakeholders and the broader community opportunity to inform the review.
The results of the consultation process will be used to inform decisions by government on how to improve CDS, including any legislative change.
SA Heritage Icon
The container deposit scheme in South Australia is so successful that in 2006 it was awarded the status of State Heritage Icon.
The BankSA Heritage Icons list records, recognises and protects items that have made a significant contribution to South Australia’s cultural identity.
The award citation:
South Australia was the first … Australian state or territory to have Container Deposit Legislation and it enjoys wide public support. It’s a self-cleansing, self-policing system that has greatly contributed to South Australia’s reputation, an increasingly valuable tourism asset, as Australia’s cleanest state. For that contribution to our living heritage the bottle and can deposit legislation is elevated, onto the pedestal and into the spotlight, as a BankSA Heritage Icon.
Electronic funds transfer (EFT) permanent additional payment option of refunds
The South Australian Government has made permanent a temporary amendment to section 71A of the Environment Protection Act 1993 (the EP Act) to provide a permanent option for refund for containers to be paid by EFT to a bank or credit card account.
The amendment has been passed by Parliament as part of legislation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and promotes general community safety in the way that customers seek refund for containers and reflects today’s increasing cashless society.
Prior to the temporary amendment, the EP Act required that collection depots only paid a refund amount in cash for containers covered by the CDS. A temporary amendment was made to section 71A of the EP Act via the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 to add to the ways that collection depots may pay refund amounts to customers to include EFT. This provided a further payment option for collection depots and consumers and is consistent with the Australian Government Department of Health statement (updated 31 March 2020) regarding social distancing for coronavirus (COVID-19) stating that people use ‘tap and go’ instead of cash.
The amendment requires that collection depots continue offering cash as a payment option so that those who do not have a bank account are not disadvantaged by the amendment.
Providing the EFT refund payment option on a permanent basis is considered important to provide business certainty to collection depots to invest in this new payment option. The amendment is consistent with the modernisation of the scheme and reflects payment options that have been adopted in other participating Australian jurisdictions.
How does the container deposit scheme work
South Australia’s container deposit legislation is prescribed in Part 8 Division 2 of the Environment Protection Act 1993. The EPA is the government regulator of the scheme and working with the beverage, retail and recycling industries, ensures that the 10-cent refund is made available for the person returning the empty container to the collection depot and that the empty containers are collected for recycling or reuse. However, the EPA has no direct involvement in the collection of the deposits or the recycling of the material which is the responsibility of industry.
History
Prior to the introduction of the Beverage Container Act in 1975, South Australia already had a history of recycling beverage containers dating as far back as the late 1800s with local beer and soft drink manufacturers having their own voluntary return in place, to recover and refill their glass bottles such as the pickaxe beer bottles. These glass bottles were much heavier than those used for beverages today, and were specifically designed to withstand repeat washing and refilling.
South Australian consumers returned soft drink bottles to retailers and beer bottles to 'marine stores' for a refund amount that was set and managed by industry.
The collection depot system as we know it today was built upon the foundation of the network of licensed marines stores which existed for the return of the refillable beer bottles used by local brewers. The marine stores were originally established by the Adelaide Bottle Company to collect, wash and re-hire the glass bottles for refilling by local breweries, such as the South Australia Brewing Company and Coopers Brewery.
The introduction and increasing popularity of single-use, non-refillable beverage containers in the 1970s meant that the new containers could not be used again and were of no further use to the beverage industry once sold. Beverage manufacturers ignored any type of return system for the new containers with the result that single-use beverage containers soon became highly visible in the litter stream posing a potential threat to the environment.
Oregon in the USA passed the first bottle bill (also known as a deposit law) in 1971, requiring refundable deposits on all beer and soft drink containers. It was this piece of legislation that would provide the springboard for South Australia’s own ‘bottle bill’.
Based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle and reinforcing the existing return systems previously established by industry for its refillable containers, the South Australian Parliament passed the Beverage Container Act 1975, which commenced operation in January 1977.
Read the story in the Canberra Times.
There have been a number of significant changes to the CDS since its inception largely relating to the scope of containers within the scheme. In particular, in 2003 the legislation was amended to include flavoured milks and fruit juices (pure) in containers less than 1 litre. Then in 2008 the refund amount increased from 5 to 10 cents. Both these changes led to more South Australians participating in the scheme, resulting in less litter on our streets and less beverage containers sent to landfill.
A success in litter reduction

Percentage of CDL items in the litter stream for SA, QLD, NT, Vic, NSW and WA
State/Territory | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SA | 2.7% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 2.2% | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.0% | 2.9% | 3.0% |
2.8% |
2.9% |
QLD | 5.3% | 4.2% | 5.0% | 4.7% | 4.80% | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.7% | 6.6% | 6.2% | 4.0% |
NT | 3.2% | 4.3% | 5.3% | 4.1% | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2.8% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 4.9% |
VIC | 4.3% | 7.1% | 6.9% | 7.0% | 7.8% | 8.1% | 7.1% | 7.4% | 7.5% | 6.5% | 6.1% |
NSW | 6.1% | 7.1% | 6.9% | 7.5% | 8.0% | 8.5% | 8.7% | 8.7% | 9.6% | 8.2% | 6.6% |
WA | 10.2% | 9.7% | 11.0% | 13.2% | 12.8% | 13.9% | 14.6% | 13.0% | 15.8% | 14.7% | 14.2% |
Beverage container return rates
South Australia leads the nation in the recovery, recycling and litter reduction of beverage containers with a current, overall return rate of 76% in 2020–21.
The EPA uses the term 'return rate' to determine how the container deposit scheme is performing. Return rates are calculated based on industry data on the number of eligible beverage containers sold in South Australia, against the number of those containers returned for a refund. This data is provided to the EPA according to beverage container material types.
Over 664 million containers (42,061 tonnes) were returned for a refund and recycling. This means more than $66 million was refunded to the South Australian community during the last financial year.
Glass beverage containers included in South Australia’s container deposit scheme include those used for beer, cider and soft drinks. The scheme does not currently include glass bottles used for wine or spirits.
In South Australia, the glass is usually sorted at the collection depot into clear, green and amber (brown) colours ready for recycling into new products. South Australia’s glass cullet is considered the highest quality and value, due to the colour sorting undertaken at depots. New products made from the recycled beverage glass include new glass bottles and jars, and a sand substitute in concrete.
In 2020–21, the return and rate for glass beverage containers was 80.9%. Approximately 33,065 tonnes of glass beverage containers were returned for a refund and recycling.
Aluminium beverage containers included in South Australia’s container deposit scheme are used for a wide range of alcoholic and soft (non-alcoholic) drinks.
Aluminium cans recovered for recycling go through a smelting process, where the aluminium is made into ingots and sold to manufacturers of aluminium products to become outdoor furniture, screen doors and window frames for houses, along with bike and car parts. A large percentage of recycled aluminium is also used to make new aluminium beverage cans
In 2020–21, the return rate for aluminium beverage containers in South Australia was 81.8%. Approximately 4,365 tonnes of aluminium beverage containers were returned for a refund and recycling.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage containers included in South Australia’s container deposit scheme are mostly for soft (non-alcoholic) drinks.
PET containers recovered for recycling are sent to processing factories where the plastic is shredded, washed and formed into pellets or powder ready for remaking into new plastic products. PET can be recycled into a range of products, including textiles for clothing and furniture, and road stabilising material. Recycled PET can also be used in the making of new PET bottles
In 2020–21, the return rate for PET containers was 67.4%. Approximately 3,799 tonnes of PET beverage containers were returned for a refund and recycling.
High density polyethylene (HDPE) beverage containers included in South Australia’s container deposit scheme are mostly used for fruit juice and flavoured milk drinks.
HDPE containers recovered for recycling are sent to processing factories where the plastic is shredded, washed and formed into pellets or powder ready for remaking into new plastic products. HDPE can be recycled into a range of products, including detergent bottles, compost and garbage bins, and agricultural and irrigation pipes.
In 2020–21, the return rate for HDPE/mixed beverage containers was 64.7%. Approximately 299 tonnes of HDPE/mixed plastics were returned for a refund and recycling.
Liquid paperboard (LPB) beverage cartons included in South Australia’s container deposit scheme are used for fruit juice, fruit juice drinks and flavoured milks.
LPB containers recovered for recycling sent to processing factories where the LPB is recycled into high quality products, such as whiter office paper suitable for printers and copiers (source: Zero Waste SA).
In 2020–21, the return rate for LPB beverage containers was 53.7%. Approximately 532 tonnes of LPB were returned for a refund and recycling.
Further information
To find your nearest depot, visit the list of metropolitan and regional collection depots.
For more information, take a look at some frequently asked questions.
Application forms can be accessed online.
Container deposit legislation – a South Australian environmental success story.
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