Following requests from environment groups and industry bodies, the start of the scheme is being extended by five months to ensure maximum possible statewide coverage.
Under the scheme, people in NSW will be able to return most empty beverage containers between 150 ml and three litres to collection points for a 10-cent refund.
It will also provide people with a financial incentive to do the right thing and recycle drink containers to significantly reduce the estimated 160 million drink containers littered every year.
NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said this would be the biggest initiative to tackle litter in the state’s history.
“Clean Up Australia and the Boomerang Alliance, along with industry stakeholders, have asked for an extension of time to make sure the container deposit scheme is a world leading program from day one,” Ms Upton said.
The 2015-2016 National Litter Index found that 49 per cent of litter by volume was made up of beverage containers – and 43 per cent of the total volume was containers that would be caught by the NSW container deposit scheme.
Learn more about the 10-cent container deposit scheme
