Australia Post sees the opportunity to use the circular economy to drive innovation, transform its business and unleash new business opportunities. This encourages innovative thinking about how to leverage the postal network and retail stores to drive the return and reuse of materials for customers.
Australia Post is supporting the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) in Australian States Queensland and New South Wales by providing container recycling facilities at its local Licensed Post Office branches.
The government-established scheme was launched in New South Wales in 2017 and Queensland in 2018. A small deposit is included in the price of food and beverage products which consumers are refunded for with each eligible container returned. The scheme is intended to encourage recycling, reduce litter and waste, and to foster product stewardship by obliging the food and drink industry to take greater responsibility for its packaging after it has been sold.
Licensed Post Offices also benefit from scheme, earning between 3 and 6 cents for each container exchanged at their collection points (depending on the condition of the container). Since the establishment of the Container Deposit Scheme, Australia Post has helped facilitate the recycling of more than 190 tonnes of plastic and glass bottles that would have otherwise gone to landfill