The Queensland government is launching a Parliamentary Inquiry into the state's container refund scheme, Containers for Change, due to its failure to meet legislated recovery targets.
The scheme, run by Container Exchange (COEX), has a target return rate of 85 per cent. However, COEX’s 2023-24 annual report reveals the annual recovery rate is 67.4 per cent, with the first two quarters of the current financial year showing a return rate of 62.7 per cent — around 20 per cent below target.
Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation Andrew Powell stated that the Inquiry would look into how the program could be improved to increase refund accessibility and recycling rates.
“We need to understand why the program has fallen short of its targets under the former government and how it can be improved to deliver more benefits for Queenslanders,” Powell said. “The Inquiry will also assess deposit location coverage, to help boost Queenslanders’ access.”
The Inquiry will assess the current state and operation of the scheme, looking at its efficiency and effectiveness in meeting its legislative goals. Queenslanders will be invited to share their input on how the program can better meet community needs.
A Parliamentary Committee has been assigned to deliver a report on the scheme’s performance and potential improvements by August 2025.
Environmental lobby group comprising 55 NGOs, the Boomerang Alliance, has welcomed the review.
“We urged the previous government to undertake a comprehensive review last year due to low recovery rates, missed targets and inefficient return points. This was after a major review (2020) by Total Environment Centre found serious systemic problems. The scheme and COEX signed up for an 85 per cent recovery rate by 2022 – which has not only clearly failed to eventuate, but never will, under current arrangements,” said Jeff Angel, director of the Alliance.
“In addition to problematic return point infrastructure found in the TEC report, the most important vector is the loss of value of the refund as inflation erodes it, leading to dropping return rates. Without action a significant implication is that charities and low income groups will face reducing refund revenue (and cost of living support); and also consumers will be generally losing out from recovering the scheme’s price inclusion.’’
“Serious examination is warranted to deliver to a more ambitious scheme and we hope the parliamentary review will put the scheme on a far better footing,’’ Angel concluded.
