Containers For Change Mackay

Bottle Recycling in Mackay

There's Cash in your Containers — Recycling and Earthmoving Services in Mackay, QLD

Cash For Your Containers & Bottle

Your locally owned Containers for change authorised depot. Convenient locations to bring in your containers to be recycled and you get the cash. We also do all the work for you so you don’t get your hands dirt. We are all helping our environmental footprint and doing the right thing for a beautiful region. Been a proud partner of the Containers for change scheme since 2018. That’s means bring us your containers and we’ll pay you cash.

With dedicated walk in recycling depots in Paget, Airlie beach and Proserpine. If you can’t make it to our depots, take advantage of our Drop and Go bins, which can be found at more than 9 convenient locations throughout the region.    

Containers For Change | Recycle Centre Mackay

Why Take Part In Containers For Change?

The Containers for Change scheme demonstrates the dedication of Queensland’s government to promoting positive change and reducing our state’s environmental footprint. Recycling used containers, including water bottles and drinks cans, benefits the planet in two key ways:

  • Recycling reduces the number of materials we sent to landfills. Landfills are not only unsightly and unsustainable, but they also produce toxic gases that pollute our environment and contribute to global warming. Reducing the amount of waste we send to landfills makes a small but significant difference to our impact on global health.
  • Recycling reduces our reliance on raw materials because, instead of plundering natural resources for minerals, metals and oils, we can reuse raw materials from old bottles, cans and containers. This helps us to achieve a sustainable balance between the materials we consume and the materials we have available to us.

By bringing your used containers to one of our depots, you can play a small but important role in the Containers for Change scheme and do your part to reduce our nation’s environmental footprint and minimise global warming.

Putting A Bottles In Recycling Bin
Compiling A Bottled Water

Make Money By Recycling

If you’re not compelled to recycle your plastic bottles and aluminium cans for the benefit of the planet, perhaps the benefit of your wallet will convince you instead.

The scheme recognises that asking citizens to recycle their old containers isn’t always easy or convenient, and since doing so requires time and effort collecting your containers and dropping them off at a local depot, it’s only fair that you’re compensated for your time.

10 cents per container might not sound like a lot, but if you add up all the containers that you and your family use over the course of a year, you might find yourself sitting on a substantial source of passive income. Whether you’re saving money for Christmas or adding to the holiday fund, the money you earn by taking part in Containers for Change could help you to reach some of your financial goals this year.

Receiving your reward doesn’t have to take a long time, either. Save up all of your containers over a period of weeks or months and drop them off at one of our depots in Mackay whenever it’s convenient for you. We can reimburse you with cash onsite or transfer your balance into a nominated bank account, whichever you’d prefer. It’s also possible to register your donation on the Containers for Change website and drop them off at your nearest community centre, if this is more convenient for you.

Containers For Change was introduced by the Queensland Government in 2018 to encourage people to recycle their cans and bottles in exchange for a 10-cent refund. By bringing in eligible containers to a designated depot, you can now make money through recycling. Eligible containers include:

  • Fruit juice
  • Flavoured milk
  • Carbonated soft drinks
  • Non-carbonated soft drinks
    such as energy drinks & sports
    drinks
  • Vegetable juice
  • Water – plain, as well as still, carbonated, spring water & mineral water
  • Alcoholic beverages (non-grape) – cider, plum wine & sake etc
  • Beer/ale
  • Pure spirituous liquor in something other than glass
And more! To find out more information about what exactly you can recycle with us, contact our team on (07) 4952 6866.
Eligible Containers — Recycling and Earthmoving Services in Mackay, QLD

Eligible Containers

Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and 3L are eligible for a 10-cent refund.

Eligible containers must:

  • Be included on the scheme’s list of products. Use our eligibility checker below to ensure your containers are eligible.
  • Display the refund mark (e.g. “10c refund at collection depots/points in participating State/Territory of purchase”). Please note that glass wine and pure spirit bottles are exempt from displaying the 10c mark until January 2027.
Ineligible Containers — Recycling and Earthmoving Services in Mackay, QLD

Ineligible Containers

There are some beverage containers that are not eligible for a refund. Generally excluded containers are those that are less than 150ml and greater than 3L.
Excluded containers include:

  • Plain milk containers of all sizes including plantbased milk substitutes
  • Cask wine
  • Containers 1L or more that contained flavoured milk, pure fruit or vegetable juice, cask wine or cask water
  • Concentrated/undiluted cordial or syrup containers
  • Sachets above 250ml that have contained wine
  • Registered health tonics

Frequently Asked Questions

The simple answer is if the label says: ’10c refund at collection depots’ then we will pay out the 10 cents on that container. Take a look at the Containers for change website for more details and examples of containers we often see.

There are a couple of ways to receive a refund.
1. After collecting your eligible containers, you can bring them into our Depots – Paget, Airlie Beach or Proserpine for sorting and counting. Refunds can be given on site cash or transferred into your nominated bank account.

Or

2. Register on the Containers for change website. Get a Scheme Id # and deposit your containers into your nearest community drop and go bin. To find out more about community drop and go bins click here please refer to drop and go bin page

No, the operator will accept all containers returned by customers to the container refund point if they are eligible.

The operator is required to reasonably ensure that all collected containers are eligible for payment of a refund (i.e. are not exempt from the scheme and display a refund mark as required by regulation) have not already been redeemed and are reasonably thought to have been purchased in Queensland after the scheme commencement date are not from a material recovery facility where a refund amount or recovery amount has already been claimed for that container.

No. There is no obligation for you to sort containers before taking them to a Container Refund Point, although there may be some time-saving benefits if you do.

Refunds will be in cash, electronic bank transfer., or you can donate to a participating community group, not-for-profit, school or charity to help them with fundraising efforts.

Yes, we do. All our depots do our counting by hand, so if we can identify the can, and the can is eligible, we can accept them. This means you can collect more crushed cans in your bags for your refund.