Cash is within easy reach in Lismore, with 20 new Return and Earn baskets now attached to public bins across Lismore and Nimbin.
Lismore City Council installed the baskets after a successful grant application. They sit on popular bins in the Lismore CBD, local parks, and sporting fields, so any resident can collect containers and claim the refund.
The council has good reason to act. Director of Water, Waste and Open Spaces Matt Potter said a review of kerbside bins earlier this year found about $670,000 of container refunds was being lost to waste.
“Now it will be easier for the community to both dispose of and access containers to be recycled at one of our Return and Earn deposit points,” he said.
The baskets are funded by Exchange for Change, which coordinates the Return and Earn scheme.
Lismore residents have already shown they are keen. Since the scheme began in December 2017, they have claimed more than 115 million containers worth $11.5 million. That is enough to power 1578 households for a year.
You can find the baskets across the Lismore CBD, at Hepburn Park in Goonellabah, and on Cullen Street in Nimbin.
The baskets are a trial. If the pilot works, the council plans to add more baskets across the CBD and villages in 2027.
Residents can already claim and recycle their containers at three spots in Lismore. They are the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre, which takes bulk loads of 100 or more containers, Southern Cross University, and Woolworths Goonellabah.
“Return and Earn is not only a really positive asset for the community, but it also offers a solution to littering and contributes to positive environmental health,” Mr Potter said.
“We hope the community will be mindful of not placing other rubbish into the baskets so that containers are clean and accessible for the people wanting to make a claim.”
“Coffee cups and takeaway food packaging should always go into the landfill bin.”
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