Alongside a communal compost bin, the garden includes a collection point where locals can bring recyclable containers that the garden can deposit to receive the 10c refund. The garden, which works closely with the Canberra Baptist Church, nominates families to receive vegetables and a share of the donations. The remaining funds go towards the growing plots, seedlings and gardening supplies.

“It’s a nice little circle of people dropping off their compost, which helps us grow stuff, and dropping off the cans, which gives us the income and we turn all of that into something for the refugees,” says Graeme.

The Kingston Organic Community Garden was established in 2008 with a grant from Baptist Community Services, which helped to transform the abandoned tennis courts into a working garden. Members pay an annual fee for a plot in which to grow veggies or flowers for their own use, and volunteers like Graeme help to look after the beds and choose what to plant.

According to Graeme, “Together it’s quite a nice community. It all works very well – it’s a very symbiotic relationship between the community, the church and the volunteers.”

Every 10 days, volunteers take the donated containers to the ACT CDS Cash-Back Depot in Fyshwick.The garden raises around $120 every trip and Graeme reports that the community garden has raised $4,000 for refugee services over the past year. He also appreciates the way the new ACT CDS system automatically sorts containers.

“We collect the containers, we clean them and with the new system, we don’t have to sort them out anymore. It’s great! The new system is fantastic as it does all the counting for you. You just tip them in,” Graeme says.

Graeme adds that the garden also runs a clean-up at Telopea Park to collect containers to recycle, but since the introduction of the ACT CDS, he no longer sees as many discarded cans polluting the park,

“There’s not many cans around to pick up anymore, there’s people out there every morning doing it – the ACT CDS has made a huge difference.”

If you’re a Kingston local or a keen gardener looking for a new community, the garden is open for volunteers on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a new cause to donate your eligible drink containers to, you can also drop them off there.

“It’s an opportunity for people who don’t want to do it themselves to drop it off somewhere and give a return to a good organisation, so that we can keep the garden going and put a few thousand dollars a year in donations into supporting refugees,” says Graeme.

The post Containers for the community: Kingston Community Garden is recycling containers to support local refugee families appeared first on ACT Container Deposit Scheme.

The free app lets ACT recyclers manage all their container returns in one easy place – from finding the nearest return point and receiving container refunds digitally at any return point, to donating to a charity, tracking returns and booking collections from home or work.

The ACT CDS app is the latest enhancement to the much-loved recycling scheme, helping people recycle their eligible drink containers quickly and conveniently.

In July, all ACT CDS cash-back depots were upgraded with the latest AI-based technology, which can process up to 600 drink containers a minute. Recyclers simply tip their eligible drink containers into the machine, and the technology does the rest.

“The ACT CDS app is the new place to manage all your eligible drink container returns, from booking a home collection to receiving payment directly into your account or donating to your favourite charitable cause,” said David Singh, Managing Director, Re.Group and ACT CDS network operator Return-It.

“Along with the recent fast-counting technology upgrades across all depots, it’s never been easier to make recycling with the ACT CDS part of your routine.”

Since launching eight years ago, the ACT CDS has delivered significant social, economic and environmental benefits thanks to the ACT community’s enthusiastic participation.

“The ACT CDS shows how simple everyday actions can deliver significant environmental, social and economic outcomes, from reduced litter and landfill to money back in people’s pockets and support for the important work of many charities and community groups in ACT,” said Danielle Smalley, CEO, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change.

“We’re excited to work with the Return-It team to support the roll out of this new technology which will make it easier than ever to turn your bottles and cans into big wins for your pocket and the planet with the ACT CDS.”

Over 492 million eligible drink containers have been returned for recycling by the community through the return point network, which equates to $49.2 million in container refunds back in people’s pockets.

The ACT CDS is an initiative delivered in partnership between the ACT Government, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change and network operator Return-It.

There are 20 return points located across Canberra including cash-back depots, drop & go pods, drop & go points at participating IGAs and reverse vending machines.

Download the ACT CDS app now from the Google or Apple app stores or visit www.actcds.org.au for more information.

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Since launching on 30 June 2018, the ACT community has recycled almost 480 million eligible drink containers through local return points. 

That means nearly $48 million in container refunds back into people’s pockets. 

The scheme’s 8^th birthday coincides with the roll out of new AI-based technology at all depots, to make container counting even faster. 

“We’re very proud of the technology upgrades we’ve rolled out at all our cash-back depots, with the goal of making recycling drink containers for the 10c refund more efficient than ever before,” said Managing Director, Re.Group and Return-It, David Singh. 

“With the ability to process 600 drink containers in just one minute, our new technology will have you in and out as quickly as possible.” 

There are 20 return points across Canberra, including cash-back depots, drop & go pods, drop & go points at participating IGAs and reverse vending machines. 

Three out of four ACT adults have participated in the scheme, the majority doing so monthly.

The post Happy 8th birthday ACT CDS!  appeared first on ACT Container Deposit Scheme.

Bin is the Senior Community Relationship Manager at Rise Above – a not-for-profit organisation that provides non-means-tested financial assistance and support to cancer patients and families in Canberra and the Queanbeyan-Palerang regional area. This includes vouchers for petrol and groceries, establishing pharmacy accounts, the payment of utility bills, exercise physiology and fertility preservation.

“Often when people get a cancer diagnosis it’s an absolute surprise and they’re financially already stretched,” says Bin.

Rise Above is currently supporting 836 cancer patients on a no-questions-asked basis and has seen a 53% growth in patient numbers in the past two years.

According to Bin, “Each year in the Canberra–Queanbeyan-Palerang regional area, there will be 2,400 new cancer cases. Right now, we are supporting 1 in 3 and we’d like to be supporting more.”

Two years ago, Bin moved to Rise Above from OzHarvest. She notes that in the not-for-profit sector, it’s crucial to receive regular and recurring funds.

“I was already rescuing food from going to landfill, so recycling cans was an obvious part of all of that,” says Bin.

Rise Above has partnered with the Canberra Southern Cross Club, where people can drop off eligible drink containers at the club’s Woden and Jamison sites. The charity receives the full 10c refund for every container as a donation.

Bin’s personal goal is to get even more households using the ACT Container Deposit Scheme to give back and explains how easy it is to use the scheme to support Rise Above.

“Put your daily recyclables, your bottles and cans – and next year your wine bottles – in your garage or in a neat storage area and make sure to take your lids off.”

“You can book for a mobile collection through the ReCollect app and can denote Rise Above as being the recipient. This can be a regular collection or an ad hoc collection.”

Bin is hopeful that with the help of everyday recyclers, Rise Above can continue to support more local cancer patients. “If you want to be super glorious to us, we’d love for you to collect from your neighbours’ and family and make it a bigger collection!” “No matter how small, everyone can make a difference for someone facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. It can turn hopelessness into hope,” Bin says

The post Cans and containers for Cancer Relief: Rise Above appeared first on ACT Container Deposit Scheme.

After the introduction of three ACT Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) collection bins at their school, teacher Laura Langston and her Year 3 and 4 class launched a marketing competition to get their fellow students excited about recycling.

Turner Primary School received a presentation on getting started with the ACT CDS in September 2025. Shortly after, the Parents and Citizens Association organised for three of the CDS’s distinctive purple bins to be delivered to the school. The funds raised from the collection of eligible drink containers through the ACT CDS are going back into sustainability initiatives for the school.

To ensure the bins were well used, Laura came up with the idea of a poster-making competition. The initiative was driven by the students in Laura’s class who wanted to promote recycling around the school.

The Year 3 and 4 students created posters that were showcased in assemblies, newsletters and information boards in the Junior and Senior school to encourage students of all ages to participate in the CDS. Some of the catch phrases the students created included: “Recycle today, save tomorrow” and “Recycle a bottle and get 10c back! Save our planet.”

The students also helped fill the bins themselves, working in lunch time crews and other groups to find, collect and sort containers from the playground – each eligible drink container of which raised 10c for the school.

Laura notes how educational the experience was as students discovered the wide range of containers that could be recycled. The kids were particularly excited to find out they could recycle their Up & Go drink cartons.

She adds that her students are very conscious of sustainability and the environment, and that the school has also been very focused on discussing these topics.

“We wanted to enquire further into sustainability as the school already had worm farms and compost bins,” Laura says. “It’s a great next step in our sustainability journey and the kids’ journeys.”

The posters have proved to be very effective at raising awareness of the benefits of recycling through the CDS. The purple bins have been particularly well used during major school events such as the end of year disco, Year 6 Farewell and end-of-year concerts in late 2025. “In one night, during the whole-school disco, we collected two wheely bins worth of cans!” Laura reports.

The P&C has also established some extra drop-off locations for containers outside the school and is implementing QR codes to inform the community about them. Parents and students can leave containers at those locations, then a member of the P&C collects them and brings them to the CDS deposit bins at the end of each term.

With the success of their initial purple bins, Turner Primary’s Stainability Portfolio have recently chosen to purchase 12 new bins for their outdoor spaces.

The post Students’ poster campaign helps kick start ACT CDS recycling at Turner Primary appeared first on ACT Container Deposit Scheme.