Aluminium cans
Recycle your aluminium cans in your kerbside recycling bin or drop them off at container deposit scheme return point. An aluminium can is 100% recyclable.
Looking after the sustainability of our planet is something we all must do. Recycling makes a significant impact on the health of our environment and reduces waste to landfill across Australia. The first step to recycling correctly is understanding how to properly dispose of your drinks after you are finished enjoying them. Discover below how you can make the right recycling choices with your drink containers.
Recycling has a positive effect on our planet because it prevents packaging from ending up where it doesn’t belong and adversely affecting our natural environment, bird and marine life. When you recycle your drink packaging you’re making a difference, and each small step helps make that difference bigger.
Making personal choices that reduce our impact, including recycling and minimising waste to landfill, ensures that our enjoyment of drinks doesn’t have unintended consequences to our precious environment. It’s up to all of us to ensure that drink containers make it into recycling, to then be remade again into more drink containers.
The non-alcoholic drinks industry is committed to using materials that can be recycled, and in most cases, remade as part of a process called the circular economy. The main packaging types used for drink containers are glass bottles, PET plastic bottles, and aluminium cans, all of which can be recycled. When you recycle these, you’re not only helping the environment, but you’re also helping drink companies turn old containers into new ones, to be used again.
The Australian Beverages Council’s member brands are making plastic bottles that can be remade. Some are building facilities in Australia to reprocess recyclable drink containers, which will stop those containers being shipped overseas. Each plastic beverage bottle can become a new one, ready to be used again, then recycled, and used again. When it comes to aluminium cans and glass bottles, they can be recycled indefinitely.
In recycling, we always strive to reprocess materials into their original form, which is often referred to as going ‘bottle to bottle’. But did you know that when this is not possible, the material can be made into many cool new products for you to enjoy? Some examples of products that can be made from recycled plastics are shoes, outdoor school furniture, carpet and backpacks.³
Do you know how to recycle right? To make sure, learn the do’s and don’ts so your recycling can have a real impact.
Recycle your aluminium cans in your kerbside recycling bin or drop them off at container deposit scheme return point. An aluminium can is 100% recyclable.
Glass bottles can be recycled in your kerbside recycling bin or container deposit return point. Keep the caps on, and you don’t need to worry about removing labels.
We advocate for ‘Caps On’ when recycling bottles. It not only saves animals (they can’t get their heads stuck inside bottles or swallow caps) but also means caps are recycled rather than ending up in landfill.
Don’t forget to empty your bottle of all liquid. Putting full bottles in for recycling can cause the machine to break down, and you won’t get your refund⁴
Before you put them in your kerbside bin or take them to a container deposit scheme return point, make sure you have emptied all liquids from your drink containers. The machinery doesn’t like liquids so please empty them before you recycle them!
By 2023 the whole country will have container deposit schemes. Until then, if your state currently has a container deposit scheme, you can take your drink containers to a nominated collection point and earn cash back for each bottle or can you return. To find out more about container deposit schemes click here.
A disposable bottle may seem single use at first glance, but you can safely refill it at your community water station when out and about. If you reuse a plastic container, for example, as a bottle for water, you’re making a positive impact. But if you don’t want to re-use it, make sure you recycle it.⁵
The Australian Beverages Council is the peak industry body that represents the non-alcoholic drinks industry, which is committed to using recyclable drink containers.
The recycling and beverage industries are heavily invested in infrastructure and resources to support recycling, reduce litter and lessen waste going to landfill. Member brands of the Australian Beverages Council are further doing their part by making packaging from materials that can be fully recycled. By participating in container deposit schemes, you ensure that the packaging your favourite drinks come in are kept within the circular economy and made into more products you know and love.
The last piece of the recycling puzzle is all of us. So always remember to dispose of your drink containers responsibly with recycling in mind.
