20 February 2025
The Queensland Government has announced a Parliamentary Inquiry into the state’s Container Refund Scheme (CRS), a move welcomed by Reloop in an effort to improve recycling rates and ensure better returns for consumers.
The Inquiry, announced by Queensland’s Minister for the Environment and Tourism, Andrew Powell, will investigate why the programme is failing to meet its legislated recovery targets and explore ways to improve the system. The system, administered by Container Exchange (COEX), is falling significantly short of its 85% target, with a recovery rate of just 67.4% in 2023-24 and an even lower rate of 62.7% recorded in the first two quarters of this financial year.
Director of Reloop Pacific, Robert Kelman, has welcomed the Inquiry, stating that Queensland’s Container Refund Scheme (CRS), like other Australian schemes, is underperforming compared to global standards.
“Like all Australian CRS, the Queensland scheme is falling way short of expectations and what is possible,” said Kelman.
“Despite CRS now being spread across the country, we still have four billion drink containers being littered or sent to landfill every year. Meanwhile, some European deposit return systems achieve over 90% recovery rates.”
Robert also highlighted that one of the key issues is the low refund value and a collection network that remains inconvenient for consumers, discouraging participation.
“The evidence Reloop has been able to present shows that our refund values are far too low, and especially in Queensland, the collection network is so inconvenient that people just don’t participate,” he said.
The Inquiry will examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the current CRS and assess how deposit location coverage can be improved to boost accessibility. Queenslanders are encouraged to provide input on how the scheme can be enhanced to better serve the community and improve recycling outcomes.
Reloop looks forward to contributing to the Inquiry and commends the government for taking action to review the scheme.
The Parliamentary Committee is expected to deliver its findings and recommendations in a report by August 2025.
