Remember when it was written on cans and plastic bottles that they were redeemable for 5c in South Australia? This environmentally-progressive state has had a container deposit scheme (CDS) running since 1977. It took the rest of Australia almost half a century to catch up, Victoria was the second last state to adopt a CDS in 2023, and finally Tasmaina adopted it in May this year.

I decided to give Victoria’s latest CDS a spin (we had a CDS in the 80s but it collapsed in 1989), collecting eligible cans and plastic bottles from my apartment block, and taking them to three local collection sites. Here is my experience.

Burke Road Cellars - Camberwell

I looked up the Victorian CDS website, and found that the closest collection site to my home was Burke Road Cellars in the CDS North zone. Turns out that there are three zones, with each zone being run be a different recycling company (CDS North is operated by Visy). Burke Road Cellars was quite a disappointment. I arrived on a Saturday morning before opening time, so waited outside in the cold with my two grocery bags of containers. Upon entry, the shopkeeper informed me “we aren’t accepting containers at the moment, come back in maybe a week’s time”. Clearly there are issues with the scheme, I had found a listed site that would not take my bags of containers.

Burke Rd Cellars Camberwell

Tower Hotel - Hawthorn East

I moved on to another bottle shop, Tower Hotel. It was not obvious where the CDS receptacle was, so I went into the bar and enquired. They said that the guy in charge of the CDS wasn’t in yet, but he would be in 45 minutes. That’s about the time to nurse a beer, so a beer was nursed, in the name of caring for our dear Earth. 45 minutes went by, but still no CDS guy. The first guy said to me that he would ask permission from his manager to leave his post at the bar and process my containers downstairs at the drive-through bottle shop. His manager was good with that, he took my cans and plastic bottles, and gave me cash. Pretty low tech, but hey, it works.

Scouts Victoria CDS Depot - Burwood

I happen to work near a CDS depot, so for my next batch of containers collected from my apartment block, I visited the Scouts Victoria CDS Depot in Burwood (this is in CDS East, operated by Return-It). I was greeted by Sophie who explained the process to me. She started the machine with her access card, and I placed my containers one by one, as the conveyer belt whizzed them away (very ASMR). I wondered if any of my aluminium cans would end up in an aeroplane. I stopped the machine when I was done, and it printed me a docket. Took the docket to the redemption machine and ka-ching, out came the cash.

So it seems that your mileage may vary. The depots look like your best bet, but they tend to only be in light industry suburbs. The bottle shops can be handy, if they haven’t happened to abandon the scheme (but are still on the site register). I hear there are reverse vending machines as well, but I haven’t come across one so far.

Despite a few hiccups, Victoria’s container deposit scheme is certainly a step in the right direction. Each container returned is one less piece of waste in landfill, and a small but satisfying way to make a difference. As more of us get involved and the system smooths out, dropping off bottles and cans for cash will hopefully become second nature. Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme may be new, but it’s a simple way we can all play our part in creating a more sustainable future.

Scouts Victoria CDS Depot in Burwood