Baskets for cans and bottles are being attached to public bins in key spots across the Byron Shire as part of a boost to the NSW Return and Earn recycling program.
Byron Shire Council staff say there will soon be 51 new opportunities for people in the shire to cash in on scheme, with participants able to collect the containers from the baskets and cash them in.
‘Anyone out and about in our parks and public spaces can now leave their empty can or bottle in one of the bin baskets for someone else to collect,’ Byron Shire Council Litter Prevention Officer Anika Brown said in the related media announcement.
The council says more than 51.8 million eligible bottles, cans and cartons would likely have ended up in landfill were it not for the introduction of the Return and Earn scheme to the Byron Shire in 2017.
There are two associated recycling points, one at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Bowling Club, the other at the Cavanbah Centre.
Staff say the number of containers recycled over the past nine years through the scheme equates to $5.18 million ‘back into people’s pockets’.
Meanwhile, more than 15 billion drink containers have reportedly been returned to recycling across the state through the Return and Earn program.
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