Wine and spirit bottles will soon be eligible for a 10 cent refund as Queensland expands its container deposit scheme and other states are being called on to follow suit.
The scheme has been operating for cans and smaller glass and plastic bottles since 2018, with more than 6.4 billion containers exchanged at a value of more than $630 million.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the move to expand the scheme was an Australian first and followed public consultation showing close to 100 per cent support.
"When we launched Containers for Change five years ago, only 18 per cent of beverage containers were being recovered and recycled in Queensland," she said on Thursday.
"Since then that number has grown threefold, with Queenslanders having returned more than six billion containers and receiving $630 million in return."
The addition of glass wine and spirit bottles is expected to improve glass recovery for remanufacturing and facilities will be ready to accept the added containers from November.
"Of course, we don't want Queenslanders to pop the champagne too early, as we work with 360 container refund depots as well as wine makers and spirit distillers over the next six months to get ready for the change," Ms Scanlon said.
Boomerang Alliance campaign manager Toby Hutcheon congratulated Queensland on being the first state to make the move and encouraged other jurisdictions to follow.
"Beer bottles are already part of the scheme and attract a 10 cent refund, so there is no reason why wine and spirit bottles should be excluded," he said.
"Mixed glass collected for recycling remains a problem, so including more glass in the scheme, where quality and value are retained, will make recycling easier and help the industry."
As well as providing refunds to individuals, the scheme is an important fundraiser for groups including OzHarvest.
"The rising cost of living has seen so many new people needing our help, so we are truly grateful for every dollar raised through the Containers for Change scheme," Queensland state manager Bernardo Tobias said.
"OzHarvest has already delivered over 21,000 meals with the funds raised from over 100,000 cans and bottles recycled through Containers for Change."
