Consumers to drink up recycling rewards

Two new reverse vending machines for recycling empty drinks containers have been installed in a bid to increase recycling, reduce waste and protect the environment from plastic pollution.

Machines located in the Sydney suburbs of Redfern and Wynyard will reward recyclers by offering prizes or charity donations in return for unwanted beverage containers.

Their installation follows the successful trial of two machines at Circular Quay which recycled over 75,000 beverage containers in the past 12 months.

Prizes include iPad minis, bus tickets, food truck vouchers and charity donations.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was pleased consumers were turning their rubbish into a useful resource.

“Around 42 per cent of bottles and cans are recycled annually in NSW, so programs such as this are important to help keep containers out of landfill,” she said.

“We're calling for a national container deposit scheme as a long-term sustainable solution to beverage container waste. The success of these machines shows that people are actively looking for options to recycle.”

Each machine can hold up to 3000 containers before it needs to be emptied.

Clean-Up Australia figures show beverage containers account for over one third of all reported rubbish in NSW.

In addition to the new machines, Sydney is planning recycling stations for batteries, light bulbs and mobile phones at libraries and service centres.