THE container deposit scheme (CDS) located at the Hamilton Bowling Club on Kennedy St has been deemed one of the most successful ‘reverse vending machines’ in Victoria’s West Zone, as a popular choice for locals to exchange recyclable drink containers.

The State Government has invested $515 million to transform the Victoria’s waste and recycling system, driving progress towards the target of diverting 80 per cent of all waste away from landfill by 2030.

The Hamilton CDS was opened in November 2023 at the Hamilton Bowling Club, who took on the initiative to hold the space that would be regularly used by the public to exchange eligible drink containers for a return of 10 cents each.

A few weeks ago, Hamilton Bowling Club members, Russell Sherren, Peter Graham, John Forsyth, and Glenda Hawker starred in an advertisement for the CDS. 

VIC Return has confirmed that this will be one of five community stories, with the advertisements likely to begin rolling out from July onwards.

Mr Sherren said it was exciting to have been a part of the advertisement that was filmed around a month ago.

“They reached out to us about the ad,” he said.

“They wanted to encourage more sporting clubs in Victoria to take up the challenge.”

While the community awaits to see the faces of the local stars on our screens, the success of the Hamilton CDS continues as locals make use of exchanging drink containers for some extra cash.

From the outset, the Hamilton CDS was very popular throughout the community, so much so that in April, the Hamilton CDS underwent an upgrade that doubled its user capacity to allow four users to return drink containers at once, to help minimalize wait times during busy periods.

“Adding the two extra machines made a big difference, people were in and out a lot more quickly,” Mr Sherren said.

“Big quantities have gone through- we see people bringing bins and bags.”

Not only has the CDS been successful in generating funds for members of the public, but also for the Hamilton Bowling Club who have received a substantial amount from club members collecting and recycling items and in rent for the space.

In April, Mr Sherren reported they had collected around $3500 for the club since November.

A month later, (at the time of going to print), the club has received a total of $4168 from the CDS.

 “(TOMRA) told us we have the highest figure for a sporting club in the state,” Mr Sherren said.

TOMRA Cleanaway, CDS operator, currently has 171 refund collection points across the CDS Vic West Zone, with 180 refund collection points planned to be installed by August of 2024.

Since the scheme commenced on 1 November 2023, over 216 million containers have been returned across the CDS Vic West Zone, putting more than $21.6 million back into the pockets of local residents and community groups.

Victorians in every corner of the state have embraced the CDS in record numbers – having returned more than 500 million cans and bottles to be recycled, an average of 138 containers per transaction with CDS Vic processing around 17 million cans, cartons and bottles statewide every week.

Containers collected through CDS Vic can be transformed into all kinds of new things, including material for roads, furniture, construction, textiles and more – creating new economic opportunities that will support more than 600 jobs across Victoria.

In April, prior to the upgrade that doubled user capacity of the CDS, it was reported by TOMRA that over 1.68 million containers had been returned to the Hamilton Bowling Club CDS since its launch, meaning more than $168,000 had been returned to residents and the community in just five months.

A month after the upgrade, TOMRA reported that a further 320,000 containers had been returned to the Hamilton CDS, meaning over $200,000 in total had been generated back into the community since its initiation, marking Hamilton as one of the most successful CDS machines in the region.

“The Hamilton Bowling Club reverse vending machine is our third most popular machine in the regional West Zone, having had over 2 million eligible drink containers returned since the scheme commenced,” a TOMRA spokesperson said.

“The support shown by local residents for Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme and the resulting popularity of this refund point resulted in an upgrade to the site occurring in April which doubled the capacity of the machine.

“We are thrilled at the enthusiasm that residents across the West Zone have shown for Victoria’s container deposit scheme.”