Return and Earn
Council operates Return and Earn at the Coonamble Waste Management Facility and the Quambone Waste Transfer Station.
Containers accepted for a refund must be between 150mL and 3L, made from aluminium, glass, plastic, steel or paperboard. However, plain milk cartons and wine and spirit bottles cannot be accepted.
Please separate containers
To make processing faster, residents are asked to sort the different types of containers for Return and Earn as they collect them at home, with a separate bag for cans and a separate bag for bottles. This will make it easier and faster to count, process and issue a receipt.
For Return and Earn processing, residents are reminded that it is not possible for health reasons to accept bags of cans and bottles that are mixed with household garbage. Depot staff can provide residents with empty bags suitable for residents to separate their cans and bottles at home, with household garbage going into the red lid wheelie bin in urban areas or a separate receptable for those out of the collection area.
Don't crush containers, please
It is important that the container not be crushed, and, for glass and plastic containers, the label (showing a barcode) should be left intact. All containers should be empty, with no liquid inside them, but they do not have to be rinsed. You can leave the cap on the container. Each accepted container will be worth 10 cents.
Deliver containers to the Coonamble facility Monday to Friday between 7am and 4pm. At Quambone, containers will be collected on Tuesday and Friday from 2pm to 5pm and on Saturday from 8am to noon.
You will receive a receipt from staff for all eligible containers you deliver. You can then convert the receipt for cash at the Council’s Administration Office in Coonamble.
Waste Management Facility staff will make all calls on which containers can be redeemed for cash.
Which containers are accepted?
The following containers of any size or material cannot currently be accepted and should continue to go into your household garbage:
- Undiluted cordial.
- Fruit or vegetable juice concentrate.
- Registered health tonics.
- Plain milk.
- Glass containers of any size for wine or pure spirits.
- Containers over 1 litre in size for flavoured milk, pure fruit juice, pure vegetable juice.
- Cask water and cask wine.
- Wine sachets of more than 250ml or less than 150ml.
