Innovative technology is making recycling easier and more accessible for those in the eastern suburbs of Ipswich.
A Super Kiosk RVM (Reverse Vending Machine) has been installed in the carpark at Orion Springfield Central near the Woolworths loading dock off Southern Cross Circuit, the first of its kind placed in a shopping centre precinct in Queensland.
The machine accepts bottles and uncrushed containers using the Containers for Change Scheme ID or through the Envirobank’s Crunch app.
The Super Kiosk RVM delivers large scale recycling capabilities that can process 100 containers per minute and can recycle up to 3,000 PET, up to 8,000 aluminium and 1,120 glass bottles per unit.
The reverse vending machine accepts eligible bottles, cans and containers and will reject any item not covered by the container scheme, cutting out contamination achieving 100 per cent resource recovery rates.
After the machine scans the barcode on the container, it crushes and sorts the container and processes the refund amount.
Through a Crunch app, people are also given the option to cash out with a retail voucher reward with Coles or other participating retailers.
People can also choose to donate container refunds to any of the Envirobank participating charities or, redeem Crunch credits for some Velocity frequent flyer points.
It’s fantastic to see the Ipswich community taking leadership on waste and the circular economy.
Our initiatives under Containers for Change are a great example of what can be achieved when business, local and state government and the community work together.
The Containers for Change Scheme has been running in Ipswich since 2018.
It is an incentivised scheme that encourages people to return containers, positively impacting the environment, reducing litter in the community and putting change back into the pocket of consumers.
Ipswich hit a recycling milestone in January, 2021 with the 150 millionth container returned through the scheme.
Local residents have claimed $15 million in refunds since the scheme began in 2018.
The Containers for Change scheme offers a 10cent refund for every eligible drink container returned at a registered refund point in Queensland.
The scheme has accepted more than three billion containers through refund points and Material Recovery Facilities across the state, culminating in a 54 per cent decrease in beverage container litter in the environment.
Ipswich has contributed to that huge benefit to the environment, with container returns growing from 59 million in 2019 to 85 million in 2020 – despite the onset of COVID restrictions.
That equates to residents producing the impressive figure of 44 per cent year-on-year growth in their container recycling habits.
Tip for using a reverse recycling machine
Remove the lids before putting containers in the machine.
Lids are made of a different type of plastic to the bottles.
Removing them helps things go smoothly during the recycling process.
| Current Glass Collection Points Ipswich | |||
| BRASSALL Battye Park Carpark Hunter Street, Brassall | CHURCHILL Lobley Park Warwick Road, Churchill | RIVERVIEW Riverview Recycling and Refuse Centre 81 Riverview Road, Riverview | ROSEWOOD Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centre 94 Oakleigh Colliery Road, Rosewood |
Council glass collection points
- Council has allocated the below locations as glass collection stations – residents can drop their glass off at any of the below stations at no cost and the glass will be recycled and reused.
- Please note that no container refund is paid to residents who drop their glass at council collection points. Container refunds are only applicable to eligible containers disposed of at special container disposal stations under the Queensland Container Refund Scheme (CRS).
For full details, including opening hours and contact numbers of container refund points, visit https://www.containersforchange.com.au/qld/where-to-return.
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