Return and Earn
Free re-usable Return and Earn carry bags are available for Wingecarribee residents from the Resource and Recovery Centre at Moss Vale to celebrate our community's efforts during the first five years of the container deposit scheme.
About 500 cloth bags are available for collection on a first-come, first-served basis at the Resource and Recovery Centre weighbridge at 177 Berrima Rd. Residents can collect one free bag per person.
Congratulations Wingecarribee! In the five years since the NSW Government's Return and Earn container deposit scheme commenced, the Southern Highlands community has reduced landfill by recycling more than 38 million containers of waste through Return and Earn since December 2017.
That is enough waste to fill 240 garbage trucks or remove 1,696 cars from our roads for a year. The environmental benefits this effort equates to are:
- Bowral Swimming Pool filled 89 times with empty containers
- 400 years of the average household’s energy consumption
December 2022 marked five years since the commencement of the container deposit scheme, which allows people to collect eligible bottles and cans and take them to a Return and Earn return point for a refund.
The NSW Government's Return and Earn initiative aims to reduce the more than 160 million drink containers that end up discarded on NSW streets, in waterways, and in parks across the state every year. In addition to the environmental benefits the scheme has also returned valuable funds to charities and community groups across NSW and the Southern Highlands.
Return and Earn locations in Wingecarribee
Wingecarribee Shire has two Return and Earn return points, both Reverse Vending Machines in Mittagong:
- Highlands Hub Mittagong, 205 Old Hume Highway
- Highlands Marketplace Mittagong, 197 Old Hume Highway
