Community
18 April, 2024
From strength to strength
A SECOND reverse vending machine has been delivered to Terang as Cooinda participants make light work of the high-volume of containers recycled in town.
Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme which launched last November, providing the infrastructure for community members to return eligible drink containers, such as cans and bottles, to refund points across the state.
There is a 10-cent refund per container, which is able to be refunded directly or donated to various community groups and charities.
Materials collected are then sent off to be recycled, and can be back on the shelves as little as six weeks later as newly recycled product.
As Western District Newspapers recently reported, Terang had surged to more than 525,000 containers recycled since the CDS was launched – significantly outpacing similar or larger communities.
The volume of returns was so high that network operator TOMRA Cleanaway last week delivered a second reverse vending machine to the 49 Dow Street site, helping to keep up with the demand.
With the machines based at a Cooinda-owned site, participants have played an integral role of the success with their determination to be involved in the process every step of the way.
According to Cooinda farm project co-ordinator Eamonn O’Connor, by the end of this week he expected Terang to have reached 600,000 containers recycled since the scheme launched.
“We always hoped it would be as successful as it has been, but the buy-in from the community has been incredible,” he said.
“To have anything like this in a little community you need people to get behind it, and it just shows how we’re bigger than just Terang - all the surrounding communities have got around it too.
“Having the second machine is going to take the pressure off and make sure we’re not knocking people back – it’s much more customer friendly for people to not have to sit and wait.
“It’s definitely been well received to have the second machine here.”
Mr O’Connor said part of the success was due to Cooinda participants assisting with the rollout of the CDS in Terang, with all hands-on deck to ensure smooth operations.
“The guys are loving it,” he said.
“They’re good at putting the cans through and they take care of all the cleaning too, from emptying the bins to cleaning down the machines at the end of the day.
“They want to help out as much as they can, and they make sure everything is ready to go from the beginning through to when the trucks arrive to take it all away.”
Cooinda general manager Phil Hose said the work ethic of Cooinda participants and goodwill of the community had been behind the success of the launch.
“There’s always been strong goodwill around Cooinda and projects we are involved in, this community supports us in amazing ways,” he said.
“We’ve got an undercover site with great access, great parking and there are readily people on hand to address any issues which arise.
“But I think it’s pretty simple; Terang is a great community for giving back.
“The guys are also working so hard, and I think it has created a real sense of pride among them all because something they are so involved in is going so well.”
Mr Hose said he often wondered what happened to such a volume of containers prior to the launch of the CDS, and how many actually would have gone on to be recycled.
Now knowing these containers were being used for the intended recycling purpose, in a process which supported community involvement, was long on the radar of initiatives Cooinda wanted to be part of.
“We’ve been following the possibility of supporting the CDS rollout for around three or four years, we knew it could be supported by community organisations and local communities getting together, so we felt that was a perfect fit for Cooinda,” Mr Hose said.
“It’s gone on to be such a success.
“We’re finding we were expecting a slow-down after the initial rush, but it has just continued to grow and grow.”
Mr Hose said the addition of the second reverse vending machine proved its value over a busy weekend.
“We did almost 10,000 cans this past Sunday,” he said.
“This would usually result in a large line-up but having the second machine meant people could get through readily and not be too held up by wait times.”
