Wine and spirit bottles are among the drink containers being considered for inclusion in the ACT's container deposit scheme following the program's success in improving the territory's recycling rates.
A five-year review of the scheme found it significantly improved rates of container recovery when compared to kerbside recycling alone, leading to calls for the scheme to be expanded beyond its current limitations.
Steel and aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles, and cardboard cartons are currently the only containers eligible to be recycled for the 10-cent refund.
The container deposit scheme has recovered more than 473 million eligible containers since beginning in June 2018, with 22 container deposit locations now open across the ACT.
In 2022-23, the territory's redemption rate - the amount of containers recovered through both kerbside recycling and container deposit locations - rose to 70 per cent, up from 35 per cent prior to the scheme.
More than 90 per cent of those consulted by the review encouraged broadening the types of packaging able to be reclaimed to include glass wine and spirit bottles, and plastic juice, cordial and milk containers.
"Increasing the proportion of returns through the network helps optimise resource recovery and leads to a higher proportion of recyclable content," the review states.
"Network returns help minimise contamination and ensure a clean stream of high-quality, higher-value materials, ultimately enhancing the overall quality of recyclables."
The scheme has diverted more than 17 million kilograms of recyclable waste from landfill, saving an estimated 36 million kilograms of carbon emissions.
The report also noted a significant downturn in the rates of observable drink containers in the ACT.
Despite delivering positive environmental outcomes within expected timeframes, the container deposit scheme has remained a financial burden for the territory.
Intended to operate at no cost to government, annual compliance fees designed to pay for the scheme have left a shortfall.
The small size of the ACT's scheme makes it difficult to achieve cost-neutrality, the report said, especially when compared to the South Australian and NSW programs the ACT scheme was based on.
Ongoing issues with funding the scheme could delay its expansion, the review stating that making the program larger could exacerbate the gap between compliance fees and the cost of running the scheme.
The ACT government said it would "analyse the regulatory impacts" of expanding the scheme, while also considering administrative costs to suppliers.
