Sydney has many businesses and individuals that pride themselves on their forward-thinking approach to sustainability. But with a growing population and increased consumption, we now face more pressure to manage our waste responsibly.
Recycling is a key effort in sustainability, reducing the strain on landfills, lowering emissions, and creating a cleaner, greener future. As a trusted recycling partner across Sydney, City Return & Earn has helped individuals, schools, and businesses adopt convenient solutions for bottle and can recycling.
Here’s how we encourage sustainable recycling in Sydney while ensuring that every container returned makes a real impact on the environment.
The Role of Return and Earn in Sydney
Our initiative is driven by the NSW Return and Earn scheme, which was launched to tackle the issue of waste from beverage containers. The scheme gives individuals and organisations the chance to earn 10¢ per eligible container returned.
The program has already achieved incredible results across the state, reducing landfill waste and making our city greener. More importantly, it has encouraged millions of people to actively participate in recycling, all while making it financially rewarding.
City Return & Earn plays a vital role in supporting this initiative. As an organisation, we partner with individuals and companies to provide convenient, accessible, and efficient container recycling services around Sydney.
Today, our services have been successfully adopted by residents, businesses, and schools. Let’s take a look at some of these services.
How City Return & Earn Supports a Greener Future
We know that recycling is only effective if it’s easy and accessible. Our services are tailored to work for everyone, no matter their lifestyle, industry, or recycling volume. Here are some of the ways businesses can recycle with us:
- Convenient Depots: We have depots in Mascot and Silverwater that allow customers to return bottles and cans quickly, without the hassle of sorting through machines. These depots offer both drive-thrus and walk-in, and recycling can be done in 5 minutes.
- Bulk Container Returns: For schools, businesses, and event organisers, we offer bulk recycling services so that larger volumes of containers are collected and processed efficiently. Our corporate clients can arrange for bulk pickups at their office or event location.
- Home Collection Services: We make recycling inclusive by also providing home pickup services. This service covers the Sydney metropolitan area and ensures that households, community groups, and those with mobility challenges can easily contribute to the Return and Earn scheme.
Environmental Benefits of Recycling with City Return & Earn
In 2003 - 2024, New South Wales had a recycling rate of 66%. As more companies and individuals recycle, we hope to see these numbers grow.
Every container recycled through City Return & Earn contributes to significant environmental benefits:
- Reducing Plastic and Glass Waste in Landfills: Containers that might otherwise sit in landfills for decades are diverted back into the recycling stream.
- Lower Carbon Footprint: Recycling containers requires less energy than producing new ones from raw materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Supporting the Circular Economy: Every bottle and can returned is given a new life. We partner with organisations that transform them into new packaging or products, keeping valuable materials in circulation.
- Encouraging Long-Term Sustainable Habits: By making recycling easy, we hope to inspire individuals and businesses to make sustainability part of their daily routine.
Why City Return & Earn?
Our team combines trust, innovation, and convenience to make it easier to recycle in Sydney. We also foster a deep commitment to our local communities, and give back where we can:
- Trusted Partner: We’ve built strong relationships with individuals, schools, businesses, and community groups across Sydney.
- Fast and Reliable: From bulk pickups to quick depot services, our systems are designed to save time and increase efficiency.
- Community-Focused: By supporting initiatives like the Kari Foundation and APM Employment, we provide jobs for individuals in the community.
Conclusion
Recycling is one of the most powerful ways businesses and individuals in Sydney can work towards a greener future. Through the Return and Earn scheme, every bottle and can recycled contributes to reducing waste, protecting natural spaces, and building a sustainable city.
By recycling with City Return & Earn, you get a seamless process while supporting your local community. Our services are designed to make recycling easy, rewarding, and impactful.
Visit City Return & Earn to find your nearest depot or book a collection service today.
City Return & Earn is a Sydney-based recycling provider that helps individuals, businesses, and schools return eligible drink containers under the NSW Return and Earn scheme. Our recycling services include drive-thru depots, walk-ins, bulk pickups, and home collection services, with a goal to make recycling simple and convenient for everyone.
Recycling with City Return & Earn diverts plastic, glass, and aluminium containers from landfill, where they could stay and pollute for centuries! Instead, these materials are reprocessed into new products, which reduces natural resources waste and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Each container makes a measurable difference.
Absolutely. Businesses, schools, and event organisers usually produce large volumes of drink containers. We offer bulk return and pickup services to help clients manage their waste efficiently, thereby improving their sustainability and operational performance, while reducing costs.
We have depots across in Mascot and Silverwater that are designed for quick and easy drive-thru and walk-in recycling. Customers don’t need to wait or sort their containers through machines, as our team will manage the process. The refunds will then be directly refunded into their account of choice or handed to them in cash immediately.
Yes! We provide 10¢ for every eligible container returned (either in cash at our depot or through your nominated bank account). This means you can get meaningful returns, especially when recycling in bulk. Alternatively, you can choose to donate your refund to the KARI Foundation to support their work.
Take Action Today for a Greener Tomorrow
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