VINNIES NSW RETURN AND EARN DEPOTS ACHIEVE 800 MILLION CONTAINERS MILESTONE

VINNIES NSW RETURN AND EARN DEPOTS ACHIEVE 800 MILLION CONTAINERS MILESTONE

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW has reached a landmark milestone in its Return and Earn partnership with TOMRA Cleanaway, with its network of 10 depots across metropolitan and regional NSW having collected, processed and refunded 800 million eligible drink containers, putting $80 million back into communities across the state.

Partners involved in delivery of Return and Earn in NSW celebrated the milestone today at St Vincent de Paul NSW’s Wollongong depot, one of the charity’s longest running Return and Earn sites. The Society operates in partnership with TOMRA Cleanaway and opened its first depots in South Nowra and Wollongong in early 2018, before progressively rolling out additional sites in Penrith, Cardiff, Maitland, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Griffith, Tweed Heads and Tamworth. Across its 10 locations, the Society NSW now provides employment for more than 80 people, supported by over 20 dedicated volunteers, helping participants generate meaningful income along the way.

The numbers behind the 800 milestone tell their own story. When Return and Earn launched in December 2017, drink containers made up 44 per cent of all litter in NSW and cost the state more than $162 million a year to clean up.

Since then, the scheme has driven a 73 per cent drop in the volume of drink container litter, more than one million tonnes of material recycled, and the return point network growing to over 660 locations, reaching well beyond Sydney into regional and remote towns across the state.

For charities and community groups like St Vincent de Paul Society NSW, the scheme has become more than a recycling program, offering a vital and reliable source of income that directly supports its frontline work.

In the past year alone, the Society has provided more than $16 million in financial and material support assisting more than 100,000 people who have turned to St Vincent de Paul Society NSW members for help, with one in three of them for the first time, and three in four needing help to simply put food on the table.

“Reaching 800 million containers is an extraordinary milestone and demonstrates the power of a simple action repeated millions of times by communities across NSW. For the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW, Return and Earn is about more than recycling. Importantly, the scheme generates funding that supports people facing hardship in our communities,” said Yolanda Saiz, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO.

As demand for assistance continues to grow, the revenue generated through our depots helps us provide practical support including food, assistance with household bills and access to services. We are proud of what has been achieved alongside TOMRA Cleanaway over the past eight years, and thankful to the staff, volunteers and customers who have helped turn 800 million containers into meaningful support for people across the state,” said Ms Saiz.

James Dorney, CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway, Return and Earn’s network operator, said the 800 million milestone reflected what was possible when an environmental scheme is designed to also deliver social good.

“800 million containers isn’t just a number: it’s 800 million individual decisions by people across this state to do the right thing and represents a small act of generosity. So much of the refund value ends up staying local, and we are proud to have partnered with St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and the role it has played as one our depot partners since almost the beginning, turning that simple act into real, lasting community support.

“It’s also $80 million that has gone back into the pockets of families, schools, sporting clubs and charities like St Vincent de Paul Society NSW, instead of ending up as litter on our streets and in our waterways. This milestone belongs to everyone who has taken a bag of bottles and cans to a return point, and who now build recycling into their everyday routine,” said Mr Dorney.