Media release – Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister for the Environment, 11 February 2025
Tasmania gears up for ‘Recycle Rewards’
Grants are now available to assist small beverage producers to transition to Tasmania’s container refund scheme ‘Recycle Rewards’.
The grants will assist the producers with the cost of obtaining barcodes and updating labels ahead of the scheme’s launch on May 1.
Minister for the Environment, Madeleine Ogilvie, encouraged Tasmanians to familiarise themselves with the important changes coming this year.
“Recycle Rewards has two goals: to reduce litter and increase recycling, both of which will support the development of our circular economy,” Minister Ogilvie said.
“Drink containers make up as much as 45 per cent of Tasmania’s litter, and through Recycle Rewards we hope to reduce that by half and double their recycling rate.
“Recycle Rewards will launch on May 1. In the meantime, keep recycling as normal using your yellow kerbside bin or using public recycling bins.”
Under Recycle Rewards, Tasmanians can receive a refund of 10 cents for an eligible drink container returned to any one of 49 refund points deployed across the state in a phased roll-out from May 1, including on King and Flinders Islands.
The scheme is administered by TasRecycle, and the network of refund points are operated by TOMRA Cleanaway Tasmania.
Information on the transition grants are located on the website of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.
Editor’s note: the Container Refund Scheme Bill 2021 was passed by the Tasmanian Parliament on 10 March 2022.
Media release – Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR), 11 February 2025
Tassie – We have a date!
The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) welcomes the announcement today that the Tasmanian Recycle Rewards scheme will commence on 1 May 2025, and congratulates all those involved in making this scheme a reality for Tasmanians- we know they take a lot of work to deliver!
“This is terrific news for the people of Tasmania, who have been very patient in waiting to gain access to their own container refund scheme which will not only put money back in their pockets but create local jobs and investment in Tasmania,” WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan said today.
The scheme is administered by the Scheme Coordinator, TasRecycle, and the refund points are being established and operated by the Network Operator, TOMRA Cleanaway Tasmania who are delivering a diverse network including automation across the Apple Isle.
“Industry knows from experience elsewhere in Australia, that container refund schemes are a highly effective way to increase collection of beverage containers and reduce litter,” said Ms Sloan. “The Recycle Rewards scheme has the potential to deliver huge environmental and social benefits to the people of Tasmania.”
WMRR also appreciates Minister Ogilvie’s recognition today that the scheme will support the development of the circular economy in Tasmania. In WMRR’s view the scheme is a once in a lifetime opportunity to roll out statewide infrastructure that can become the backbone of taking back and recycling not only containers, but a broader range of materials, including batteries, e-waste and other materials into the future. It also adds to investment in local state-of-the-art recycling and sorting capacity to produce raw materials for local remanufacturing industries, helping transition to a circular economy.
“Industry is excited by the prospect of greater source separation of materials in Tasmania through the scheme, which will enable higher value materials to be recovered, recycled and reprocessed as inputs into new recycled products,” Ms Sloan added.
“We have seen a lot of positive waste and resource recovery (WARR) investment and policy in Tasmania recently with the introduction of Recycle Rewards, the advent of the levy and the work of the WARR Board. WMRR would encourage the Tasmanian Government to continue down this path and expand the scheme to include other containers as proposed by other Australian jurisdictions as quickly as possible and keep this positive momentum going!”
Media release – TOMRA Cleanaway, 11 February 2025
Tasmania gears up for ‘Recycle Rewards’
Tasmania’s new container refund scheme Recycle Rewards will officially commence on 1 May 2025. Once Recycle Rewards starts, Tasmanians will receive a 10-cent refund for any eligible drink container returned to a refund point in Tasmania.
“From 1 May 2025 the people of Tasmania will have access to a world class container deposit scheme that puts money back into the hip pockets of Tasmanian’s while helping to deliver positive environmental outcomes.”
“TOMRA Cleanaway is excited to activate our network and build collaborative working relationships with the Tasmanian Government, Scheme Coordinator, TasRecycle, and importantly, the Tasmanian community to deliver their much anticipated ‘Recycle Rewards’ program.” – James Dorney, CEO TOMRA Cleanaway
Grants are now available to assist small beverage producers to transition to Tasmania’s container refund scheme ‘Recycle Rewards’. The grants will assist the producers with the cost of obtaining barcodes and updating labels ahead of the scheme’s launch on May 1.
Under Recycle Rewards, Tasmanians can receive a refund of 10 cents for an eligible drink container returned to any one of 49 refund points deployed across the state in a phased roll-out from May 1, including on King and Flinders Islands.
The scheme is administered by the Scheme Coordinator, TasRecycle, and the refund points are established and operated by the Network Operator, TOMRA Cleanaway Tasmania.
Work is underway to set up the state-wide network of refund points, including identifying locations and undertaking site works.
Once the network of refund points is fully rolled out in the months following scheme commencement, there will be 49 refund points across the state for people to return their eligible drink containers in exchange for a 10-cent refund. Once returned, these containers become valuable material for recycling.
Information for beverage manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and retailers who may be first responsible suppliers of eligible containers into Tasmania is now available on the TasRecycle website.
More information, including the grant guidelines and how to apply, is available on the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania website.
Media release – Janie Finlay MP, Shadow Minister for Parks, Environment & Climate Change, 12 February 2025
CRS set to launch three years late
The party of big announcements and no follow-through is at it again, declaring Tasmania’s container refund scheme will finally commence six years after it was first announced.
In 2019, Premier Hodgman declared the Liberals would implement a container refund scheme by 2022, but like so many other Liberal promises it has been subject to delays and pushed back numerous times.
While we welcome the fact Tasmania will finally get a CRS scheme, it should have happened much earlier and it’s still unclear why it has taken so long.
