Return and earn scheme proving popular in the Hunter despite lack of collection points

Over 7.5 million containers have been returned in the Hunter since the introduction of the scheme on December 1 – part of the 71 million collected in NSW. 

The Mount Hutton collection point has shot past first-month leaders, Medowie and Mayfield, as the leading point of return with over 1.24 million containers.

But while the return and earn concept appears to be proving popular, two major problems are hampering its operation, according to those who are using it.

The first, available collection points, has drawn criticism from the state opposition; while the second, out-of-order reverse vending machines (RVM), is irking users trying to play their part.

“They’re very limited,” 44-year-old Nathan Robinson said of the Hunter’s available redemption points when returning containers at Mayfield on Friday.

“They’ve put the cart before the horse, in terms of the scheme and not making sure the infrastructure was in place before they started it.”

Mr Robinson travelled from The Hill in Newcastle to the closest RVM at Mayfield, where he faced a half-hour wait to use the machine. He had gone to the collection point before, but found it either full or out of order.

“The queues, and the issues of it not being available sometimes – there’s no system online that will tell you, if you get on your phone, if the Mayfield one’s open today,” he said. “That gives you that information so you don’t waste your time getting here to see a sign on the RVM [saying it is closed].

“If you’re going to have what appear to be random and regular out-of-service periods, you’ve got to have a system of letting people know.”

His concerns were shared by Steven Sewell, who travelled from Woodberry to Jesmond to use the RVM outside the Stockland Centre. 

“It’s a great concept, but there’s just not enough locations,” he said. “I’ve had to come over to Mayfield because it [Jesmond] was full. I could return my glass bottles at Jesmond, but not my plastic containers.” 

Mr Sewell, 35, has encountered the problem before and said it can sometimes be 3-4 days before the RVM is made operational again. 

TOMRA Cleanaway, the scheme’s operator, are electronically notified when a RVM becomes full and deploys a truck to that location.

But if TOMRA are electronically notified when a RVM is full, it begs the question, why can’t that information be posted online for the scheme’s users to see, like Mr Robinson suggests.

The return and earn website already has an electronic map showing return point locations, their type and maximum return numbers. 

Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison believes the RVM system has its operational flaws. “They [reverse vending machines] aren’t the be all and end-all,” she said.

“I’ve had people who have told me they’ve taken four garbage bags of material over successive days and had to turn around and come back because the machine’s full.”

Mrs Aitchison’s electorate area of Maitland continues to go without a point of return, much like Muswellbrook. 

The nearest for Maitland residents is a half-hour drive away at West Wallsend; a distance that would likely chew more fuel than a boot full of containers would redeem. 

“Everyone in the community is paying 15 cents levy on their containers and they have nowhere in the electorate they can return those to,” Mrs Aitchison said.

In the past month, three collection points in the Hunter have ceased – one at Tenambit Takeaway, a second at Kurri Kurri Golf Club and the latest at Hotel Tudor in Woodberry.

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Tenambit Takeaway and Hotel Tudor were both over-the-counter style return points.

There are currently five of this type in the Hunter and most have a limit of 100 containers per transaction. The exception is McDougalls Hill, outside Singleton, where 800 can be returned at once. 

Far more popular, are the RVMs dotted around the region – most located in Woolworths car parks.

From Swansea to Scone to Salamander Bay, there are 11 RVMs in total, all with a 500 container per transaction limit. But with a combined population of around 640,000 in the Hunter, it equates to just one RVM for every 58,181 people.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority, who oversee Tomra Cleanaway, wouldn’t reveal any future return locations in a response to the Herald, despite suggesting to a radio station last week Maitland would receive a RVM in February. 

“There are more than 365 collection points across NSW, with more to be rolled out in the weeks to come,” an EPA spokesperson said. “The CDS network operator, TOMRA Cleanaway, is deploying teams daily across NSW to review potential Return and Earn sites.”

A new RVM arrived at Newcastle International Hockey Centre in Broadmeadow over the weekend, but is yet to be made operational.