Glass wine and spirit bottles could soon be added to Queensland’s popular 10-cent recycling scheme.
The State Government has today confirmed it is looking at expanding the scheme.
“We want to expand Containers for Change to include glass wine and spirit bottles,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday.
However, she confirmed the Government would first consult with the community on the idea before making the move.
“We will consult with Queenslanders on whether glass wine and spirit bottles should be included in the Containers for Change scheme,” she said.
“This is an important part of our war on waste and will put more money back into the pockets of Queenslanders.”
BREAKING: We want to expand Containers for Change to include glass wine and spirit bottles. @4ChangeQLD pic.twitter.com/LunL9aB4lj
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) November 7, 2022
It seems Queenslanders are already fans of the idea, with hundreds of people taking to social media to share their support.
“Absolutely they should, seemed pretty silly from the start having to weed them out and put it in normal recyling,” one person wrote.
“How a tiny plastic Yakult bottle can be worth 10c but not a 750ml or 1L glass bottle has never made sense. Let’s do it!” commented another.
While a third wrote “Most definitely! I am about to move house & we have accumulated over 300 of these, and they are about to go to the dump 
I’ve been hanging on to them for a long time in hope we could recycle them!!”
When the scheme first launched in 2018, only 18 per cent of containers were being recycled, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said.
She has since confirmed that percentage has increased threefold, with more than 5.5 billion containers being collected at refund points.
Consultation is expected to launch in December and run through to February 2023.
