How CDS Vic works
We are committed to making Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme the most accessible and convenient scheme in Australia.
How it works
- Participants purchase a drink.
- Participants return their empty drink container to one of over 600 refund points across Victoria.
- Participants receive a 10-cent refund for every suitable eligible container they return. Participants can choose to keep the funds or donate to a participating charity, community group, environmental group, educational organisation, or sports group.
- Returned containers are then given a new lease on life. The material is recycled and remanufactured into a new product, saving it from landfill or littering the environment.
Refund points
There are many convenient and accessible locations across Victoria for participants to return empty drink containers. Community access and service standards ensure that participants can return their drink containers to a refund point that is convenient for them, regardless of where they are in Victoria.
There are a variety of ways to return drink containers, including:
- reverse vending machines
- depots
- over-the-counter collection points
- mobile or ‘pop-up’ refund collection points
Community Operating and Access Standards
We are committed to making Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme the most accessible and convenient scheme in Australia.
From 1 July 2024, a community operating standard applies to CDS Vic refund points, which requires minimum operating hours. These hours vary according to the location and remoteness of a refund point as classified by Australian Bureau of Statistics geographic standard.
We encourage people to visit the CDS Vic website to check opening hours of their closest refund point before visiting.
From 1 August 2024, a community access standard applies to CDS Vic refund collection points, prescribing minimum sites across Victoria. In metropolitan areas, a minimum of one refund collection point per 14,500 people applies. For regional towns of 750 or more, or remote towns of 300 or more, refund collection points will be located as required within 5 km of the town boundary as specified by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Drink containers
CDS Vic targets drink containers that most commonly contribute to litter and are often consumed away from home. This includes plastic soft drink bottles, glass beer bottles, soft drinks and alcohol sold in cans, and small fruit juice cartons.
A complete list of eligible containers can be found in the Container Deposit Scheme Regulations.
Community support
CDS Vic provides charities, community groups, environmental organisations, sports groups, and educational organisations with new and easy ways to raise funds. Their options include:
- receiving donations from the community – Victorians can choose to pocket their refund or donate to a participating charity
- conducting a collection drive – receive containers from the community
- running a refund point as a business.
Updated 4 April 2025
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