What happens to your drink containers?
Learn how Return and Earn recycles the plastic, glass and aluminium in your bottles, cans and cartons.
How we recycle your drink containers
Bottles, cans and cartons deposited at any of our return points are recycled into new drink containers and other useful products, helping reduce litter and landfill, and contribute to a circular economy.
One of the many benefits of recycling through Return and Earn is that your drink containers are separated from other materials when collected. This eliminates contamination and creates a clean stream of recyclable material which is very valuable to industry.
Where and how materials are recycled
Plastic bottles
There are two types of plastic drink containers collected through Return and Earn. PET bottles (such as soft drink, juice and water) are recycled at a PET processing facility in Albury, NSW. They can be recycled into a new drink container and be back on supermarket shelves in six to eight weeks. Drink containers made of HDPE (such as flavoured milk) are recycled in Victoria.
Glass bottles
All glass bottles collected are recycled in Australia where they are turned into new glass bottles and jars in as little as 30 days.
Cans
As there are no aluminium reprocessing facilities in Australia, our aluminium cans are exported to the Netherlands and South Korea, where they are recycled into new cans and other aluminium products within four to eight weeks.
Poppers
Poppers and cartons, made of liquid paperboard, are recycled at a dedicated recycling facility in India.
Plastic lids
Don’t forget to leave your lids on when returning your containers. Plastic bottle lids collected through the scheme are taken to Ingleburn NSW where they are recycled into a variety of items including flowerpots and bin lids.
