The Andrews Labor Government will create more than 600 new jobs through Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic), which will reduce the state’s litter by up to half when it begins later this year.

Minister for Environment Ingrid Stitt today visited TOMRA Cleanaway’s Clayton depot to see the 80 reverse vending machines that are already being rolled out across Victoria before the scheme begins on 1 November this year.

CDS Vic is a new Labor Government initiative that will allow people to return their used drink cans, bottles and cartons for a 10-cent refund, with refund points planned across regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne.

VicReturn is the Scheme Coordinator, while zone operators TOMRA Cleanaway, Visy, and Return-It will establish and oversee the refund points and refunds to customers, as well as ensuring proper recycling of the containers.

The operators are each responsible for the collection point network in their allocated scheme zones: north, east and west.

There will be an estimated 200 new jobs across the west zone delivered by TOMRA Cleanaway alone – the roles created will include sales staff, technicians, collections drivers, refund point operator staff, and recycling sorting facility operators.   

Reverse vending machines, depots, over-the-counter sites, and pop-up refund points will be the four ways people can return their eligible containers.

Within the first year of the scheme, the Zone Operators will be required to have a minimum of one collection point per 14,500 people in metropolitan areas, at least one per town of 750 people in regional areas, and at least one per town of 350 people in remote areas.

CDS Vic is part of the Labor Government’s $515 million investment to transform the state’s waste and recycling system. This includes the new standardised four-stream waste and recycling system, supporting our target of diverting 80 per cent of all material away from landfill by 2030.

Minister for Environment Ingrid Stitt, said,

“CDS Vic will not only reduce the amount of litter in Victoria by up to half and maximise the number of cans, bottles and cartons being recycled into new products, but will also deliver more than 600 new jobs across the state.”

“From the beginning of November, the Container Deposit Scheme will put money in the pockets of Victorians, while also helping to clean up the state and deliver far-reaching environmental benefits.”

Member for Oakleigh Steve Dimopoulos said,

"CDS Vic is set to deliver more jobs and strengthen Victoria’s economy, while drastically reducing the waste that ends up in our environment."

 CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway James Dorney, said,

“TOMRA Cleanaway’s ‘West Zone’ for CDS Vic builds on the community’s existing exceptional environmental commitments. We have tasked ourselves with providing meaningful and skilled circular economy jobs across the ‘West Zone’ of CDS Vic that fulfil a diverse range of tasks and ultimately achieve positive social, environmental and economic benefits to all.”