The Western Australian (WA) government has announced an expansion to its Containers for Change programme to include wine and spirit bottles from 1 July 2026.
The scheme, which has been in place since 2020, offers a refund for eligible beverage containers.
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The inclusion of wine and spirit bottles means that nearly all beverage containers ranging from 150ml to 3 litres will now be accepted at refund points across WA.
The expansion will also encompass wine in plastic packaging, sachets, casks, water in casks, concentrated fruit and vegetable juices, flavoured milk and cordial.
Plain milk and registered health tonic containers will continue to be excluded.
The Containers for Change scheme has improved the recycling rate in WA, increasing it from 35% to 65% since its inception.
With the programme’s expansion, it is anticipated that an additional 200 million containers will be eligible for refunds each year, including 90 to 130 million glass bottles.
Glass bottles already have an 80% return rate – the highest of all materials.
The programme’s expansion has been accelerated due to the support it has received from the community, contributing to environmental sustainability, job creation and aiding community groups.
More than 4.5 billion containers have been collected, reducing waste and promoting recycling, as of 31 July 2025.
In the 2023/24 financial year, approximately 39,000 tonnes of glass were recycled through the programme into new bottles.
WA Return Recycle Renew (WARRRL) CEO Tim Cusack stated: “WA Return Recycle Renew welcomes and supports this announcement on the future inclusion of new 10-cent containers into our container deposit scheme.
“We will be working with all our stakeholders over the coming months to ensure we are operationally ready for the expansion in mid-2026.
“Refund points will not be accepting any new 10-cent containers until the launch date. In the meantime, we encourage the community to continue to dispose of their containers in the relevant household bin, as per the WasteSorted guidelines.”
