23 January 2026
NSW is celebrating the return of a record 15 billion drink containers through the Return and Earn scheme.
And Blue Mountains recyclers have played their part in the milestone, having returned an incredible 55,631,048 containers at local return points since the scheme began in 2017.
The state-wide recycling program is also putting billions back into householders’ pockets.
In total, recyclers state-wide have benefited from $12.5 billion in refunds by bringing back their containers through the return points.
Return and Earn is also a key fundraising platform for charities and community groups, with more than $91.5 million going to them from return points.
Blue Mountains MP and Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Trish Doyle, said:
“This is about diverting waste from landfill and making our region an even more special place to live.
“I’m proud that our community is keenly interested in this valuable program.”
Ms Doyle said refunds from container recycling are helping families and individuals with cost-of-living pressures and helping support the work of charities and community groups that are using the scheme to fundraise.
“Recycling eligible containers through Return and Earn is an easy way for all of us to help the environment and support the work of some amazing local charities,” Ms Doyle said.
Collection data shows neighbours in the much larger populated Penrith Local Government Area and Hawkesbury Local Government Area returned a whopping 507 million containers and 129 million containers respectively. Lithgow and Oberon in contrast returned about 42 million and 1 million containers respectively.
Acting Minister for the Environment Steve Whan said:
“This impressive milestone of 15 billion containers shows just how much the community loves Return and Earn. The tally will only continue over summer when around nine million containers are returned each day.
“Return and Earn has doubled the recycling rate for beverage containers since it started, significantly reducing litter in NSW and putting money back into people’s pockets.”
Enthusiasm for Return and Earn has seen the tally of bottles, cartons and cans returned through the network soar from 14 billion to 15 billion containers in less than six months.
The estimated environmental benefits of the scheme, which launched in December 2017, include:
- energy savings equivalent to powering 204,750 homes for a year
- water savings equivalent to 35,186 Olympic swimming pools
- CO2 emissions equivalent to taking nearly 1.1 million cars off the road for a year.
The scheme will be expanded by the Minns government in the middle of next year to include wine and spirit bottles and larger drink containers.
“By accepting more types of containers in the future, including wine and spirit bottles, NSW will boost recycling rates, divert more waste from landfill and deliver a more robust circular economy,” Minister Whan said.
For more information about Return and Earn or to find your nearest return point visit www.returnandearn.org.au.
