Councils across the country have been rolling out a simple and effective addition to public bins, aimed at reducing waste and making recycling easier for Aussies.
Return and Earn bin baskets have been appearing at or near bins in high-traffic areas across New South Wales and Victoria, making it easier for people to recycle eligible drink containers.
It means people who collect eligible containers and redeem the 10-cent refund will no longer have to put themselves at risk by rummaging through the bins to find them.
It also encourages proper disposal of containers and reduces the amount of rubbish ending up in landfill.
This week, Woollahra Council in Sydney’s north announced a trial of the Return and Earn bin baskets.
“You can help keep our streets and harbour clean, and contribute to a circular economy, by disposing of your eligible bottles and cans in these baskets when you’re out and about,” they shared.
So far, Aussies have praised the “excellent idea” which has already been rolled out across the state.
Do the Return and Earn baskets actually work?
The initiative began in NSW last year, with the Sutherland Shire and Eurobodalla Shire Councils among the first to roll it out.
It reduced the problem by 82.5 per cent in rural Eurobodalla and 50 per cent in suburban Sutherland, and was considered a success.
Do you have a recycling idea? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
Sydney’s Woollahra Council and Willoughby City Council have trialled the bins with great success.
(Woollahra Council /Willoughby City Council)
In NSW, the baskets are being trialled by Exchange for Change, the coordinator of the state’s Return and Earn container recycling scheme.
Last month, Willoughby councillor Robert Samuel said he hopes the baskets will make the process “cleaner and easier” for locals who rely heavily on the earnings from eligible containers.
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North of Sydney, the Tweed Shire Council has recently installed 30 Return and Earn bin baskets beside public bins across the Shire.
“It’s a win for the environment and the community,” they said. And locals agree.
Recycling initiative expands across the country
In Victoria, the baskets are an increasingly common sight on bins to help facilitate the state’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS).
A pilot program began in 2025 around the City of Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula Shire and Yarra Ranges.
A VicReturn spokesperson told Yahoo News, “the interest exceeded our expectations”.
Similar initiatives are also popping up across parts of Western Australia.
(Facebook/Ali Gillett and Yahoo News)
“Following the success of the pilot, we expanded this program by inviting expressions of interest to all Victorian councils to install bin baskets and rails in their public places,” they said in March.
“You’ll see this popping up all over the state by the end of 2026.”
Australia moving toward a more sustainable future
The initiative is part of a bigger plan for Australia as we move towards a more sustainable future. All states and territories have their own recycling scheme.
Similar versions of the basket are also popping up across Western Australia as part of the state’s Containers for Change scheme.
And in Queensland, a similar initiative was spotted at the popular Mooloolaba Beach on the state’s Sunshine Coast.
In addition to these container and can recycling schemes, a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bin system has been slowly introduced in council areas across the country with plans to halve the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030.
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