Most drink containers between 150ml and three litres are eligible. This includes glass, plastic, aluminium, steel and some cartons. Wine bottles and spirits bottles are not eligible, as research shows these drinks are more often consumed in the home and are less likely to end up as litter.

There are currently 324 collection points operating across the state and, with more being rolled out every week, EPA Acting Chair and Chief Executive Officer Mark Gifford said it was a good idea for people using the system for the first time to check the list of eligible containers before heading out to their local collection point.

“The list of eligible containers has been created based on an analysis of the types of containers that are most often found in the litter stream, and it matches closely to other states with container deposit schemes in place, like South Australia and the Northern Territory,” Mr Gifford said.

More than 160 million drink containers are littered across the state each year, and drink containers make up almost half the volume of total litter in NSW.

 “As more people across NSW get on board with Return and Earn, or continue to recycle through their local council collections, we expect to see a significant reduction in the millions of containers that are tossed onto roadsides, parks and waterways each year.”

Containers returned to a reverse vending machine or over-the-counter collection point do not need to be in pristine condition but should be empty and uncrushed, and have the label intact. This is to ensure the label can be scanned at the collection point and the container be confirmed as eligible for the 10c return.

Ineligible containers should be recycled where possible, or disposed of in appropriate bins.

Containers that cannot be deposited for a refund include:

More information about eligible containers, local collection points and the scheme generally is available at www.returnandearn.org.au