If you’ve been making money out of recycling bottles and cans, you are probably already aware that the Return and Earn recycling machine at Humbly Oval near Lismore Shopping Square hasn’t been operational for a while. And while the Goonellabah one is working – do you know where it is?

The Lismore App investigated to find out what was going on with our machines - and also found out just how much the people in Lismore have recycled through the Return and Earn scheme since it began.

Who runs Return and Earn?

Despite popular thought, Lismore’s two Return and Earn reverse vending machines (RVM) are not run by Lismore City Council, they are actually coordinated by NSW organisation Exchange for Change. However, a third location - the bulk return facility at the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre - is run by Lismore City Council.

The container deposit scheme network is operated by TOMRA Cleanaway – which manages 635 return points in NSW as well as the logistics and sale of the recyclable commodities. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for regulating the scheme.

Shirani Glover from Exchange for Change said NSW’s container deposit scheme, Return and Earn, marked a major milestone recently with over 4.8 billion containers recycled since the scheme began in December 2017.

In a recently released report, Shirani said across NSW, the latest research found 3 out of 4 NSW adults have participated in the recycling scheme.

“The Lismore community are enthusiastic contributors to this success with more than 42.5 million containers returned through its local return points since the scheme launched,” she said. “That’s more than $4.2 million in refunds given back into the hands of the community.”

NSW Local Government Areas Return and Earn network collections by material type (volume of containers)

Humbly Oval flooding

Shirani said the reason the Return and Earn reverse vending machine at Humbly Oval hasn’t been working is because it was impacted by the flooding a few weeks ago.

“This resulted in damage to the machine and the site,” she said. “Our network operator, TOMRA Cleanaway, has been working closely with the site landlord, Lismore Council, to safely access the site and replace the machine as quickly as possible.

“We can confirm work on site to replace the machine began this week, unfortunately, a ‘go live’ date is not currently available, but we’ll provide updates online when an opening date is confirmed.”

Shirani recommends visiting the Return and Earn website or downloading the MyTOMRA app to check the live status of the return point. Customers can also contact the network operator’s customer service hotline on 1800 290 691.

The Humbly Oval RVM.

The Goonellabah RVM on Simeoni Drive.

Where do I do return my containers to?

So, the advice is to either hold on to your containers and return them once the Humbly Oval RVM is back online, or return them to:

The Return and Earn RVM at 2 Simeoni Drive, Goonellabah, behind Woolworths, or to Lismore Council Automated Depot at 313 Wyrallah Rd (Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre), - where you can return in bulk, with 100 containers or more.

Lismore's recycling statistics

The following image shows Lismore's recycling statistics, compared to other Council areas in NSW.

It was taken from the Local Government Network Collection Volumes Report for the last three years, which also showed that the Lismore City Council area recycled 3698 tonnes of aluminium, glass, plastics and paper materials in total over the period.

NSW Local Government Areas Return and Earn network collections by material type (tonnage)

Local charities benefit

Shirani said Return and Earn is becoming an increasingly important fundraising avenue for charities and community groups.

“Overall more than $15.5 million has been returned to not-for-profits and community groups across NSW through donations and fees from hosting return points since the scheme commenced,” she said

“Lismore City Lions Club, Alstonville P&C Association and NNSW Helicopter Rescue Service are some of the Lismore charities and community groups who have benefitted from the scheme as donation partners at local return points, giving participants the option of donating some or all of their refund to them.”

For more information about Return and Earn, visit www.returnandearn.org.au.