Improving South Australia's recycling makes cents

Consultation has concluded. Thanks for your contributions



Have your say on how we can improve South Australia's iconic Container Deposit Scheme

What's being decided

South Australia led the way when it introduced Australia’s first container deposit scheme 54 years ago, but much has changed since then, including new technologies, and the community’s desire and ability to recycle more container materials.

More than 600 million container deposit scheme (CDS) beverage containers (more than 40,000 tonnes) are returned by South Australians for refund and recycling each year resulting in one of the most effective CDS's in the world, with beverage containers accounting for less than 3 per cent of litter items in SA.

A review of the Container Deposit Scheme shows South Australia can increase the recovery and recycling of beverage containers to boost the local remanufacturing industry and maintain SA’s leadership in this iconic and much loved scheme.

We want your feedback on the options and opportunities to modernise the CDS.

Background

In 1977, beverage producers commenced one of the first product stewardship schemes in Australia, taking responsibility for their containers and financially underpinning the considerable infrastructure investments and operating costs associated with the system.

The success of the container deposit scheme (CDS) has been made possible by a very engaged SA community and the many businesses involved in container recovery and recycling, including beverage producers, suppliers and retailers, and non-government organisations.

A review of the CDS commenced in January 2019, with the release of the Improving South Australia's Recycling Makes Cents scoping paper for public consultation. 

During the 6 week consultation, the EPA received over 1,170 responses from members of the public, CDS stakeholders, environment and community groups, the beverage manufacturing and supply sector, the resource recovery and recycling sector and the government sector. A summary report of responses was released in August 2019.

This feedback, together with investigations on beverage container material flows (including ultimate fate of containers) and economic analysis, has helped inform the ‘Improving South Australia’s Recycling Makes Cents Discussion Paper’ which has been structured around the following key issues:

Get involved

To find out more: 

Have your say by:

  • sharing a comment on our consultation forum
  • emailing your submission to: epainfo@sa.gov.au (Subject: CDS Review)
  • posting your submission to:
    Attn: CDS Review Discussion Paper
    Environment Protection Authority
    GPO Box 2607, Adelaide SA 5001

NOTE: Submissions will be treated as public documents, unless received in confidence subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 1991, and may be quoted in full or part in subsequent EPA reports. If you do not want the public to read your submission, please write ‘confidential’ on your submission.

What are the next steps

We will consider your feedback to determine changes that should be made to the South Australian Container Deposit Scheme. 

Have your say on how we can improve South Australia's iconic Container Deposit Scheme

What's being decided

South Australia led the way when it introduced Australia’s first container deposit scheme 54 years ago, but much has changed since then, including new technologies, and the community’s desire and ability to recycle more container materials.

More than 600 million container deposit scheme (CDS) beverage containers (more than 40,000 tonnes) are returned by South Australians for refund and recycling each year resulting in one of the most effective CDS's in the world, with beverage containers accounting for less than 3 per cent of litter items in SA.

A review of the Container Deposit Scheme shows South Australia can increase the recovery and recycling of beverage containers to boost the local remanufacturing industry and maintain SA’s leadership in this iconic and much loved scheme.

We want your feedback on the options and opportunities to modernise the CDS.

Background

In 1977, beverage producers commenced one of the first product stewardship schemes in Australia, taking responsibility for their containers and financially underpinning the considerable infrastructure investments and operating costs associated with the system.

The success of the container deposit scheme (CDS) has been made possible by a very engaged SA community and the many businesses involved in container recovery and recycling, including beverage producers, suppliers and retailers, and non-government organisations.

A review of the CDS commenced in January 2019, with the release of the Improving South Australia's Recycling Makes Cents scoping paper for public consultation. 

During the 6 week consultation, the EPA received over 1,170 responses from members of the public, CDS stakeholders, environment and community groups, the beverage manufacturing and supply sector, the resource recovery and recycling sector and the government sector. A summary report of responses was released in August 2019.

This feedback, together with investigations on beverage container material flows (including ultimate fate of containers) and economic analysis, has helped inform the ‘Improving South Australia’s Recycling Makes Cents Discussion Paper’ which has been structured around the following key issues:

Get involved

To find out more: 

Have your say by:

  • sharing a comment on our consultation forum
  • emailing your submission to: epainfo@sa.gov.au (Subject: CDS Review)
  • posting your submission to:
    Attn: CDS Review Discussion Paper
    Environment Protection Authority
    GPO Box 2607, Adelaide SA 5001

NOTE: Submissions will be treated as public documents, unless received in confidence subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 1991, and may be quoted in full or part in subsequent EPA reports. If you do not want the public to read your submission, please write ‘confidential’ on your submission.

What are the next steps

We will consider your feedback to determine changes that should be made to the South Australian Container Deposit Scheme. 

Consultation has concluded. Thanks for your contributions



  • Container Deposit Scheme consultation outcomes

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    Thank you for your interest in response to the discussion paper on reviewing South Australia’s container deposit scheme.

    Between 25 September and 30 November 2021, the EPA received 250 submissions from the public, Container Deposit Scheme stakeholders, environment and community groups, industry and government and a summary of these responses is now available in the Consultation summary report.

    Following support for a range of options proposed in the discussion paper, changes to improve the scheme will focus on:

    • clarifying the current purpose of the scheme, strengthening the promotion of the circulation of materials through resource recovery, and supporting a stronger market for recovered resources within a circular economy
    • modernising CDS operations including new technologies, improved community accessibility and service experience
    • introducing a more effective governance arrangements for CDS with a preference for a centralised scheme coordinator model
    • implementing mechanisms that optimise the recovery and recycling of high value materials in alignment with other states and territories as much as possible
    • streamlining scheme fees, including introducing a more efficient cost recovery approach for regulatory oversight
    • streamlining beverage ‘label’ approval requirements, in alignment with other states and territories as much as possible.

    We will continue to work with key stakeholders to develop draft legislative changes to improve the container deposit system for beverage producers, recyclers and the community.