SYDNEY, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- While the NSW government and the beverages industry continue to butt heads over the cash-for-containers scheme, Sydney residents have already been busy earning 'green money' for recycling more than just cans and bottles at home.
The new cash-for-containers scheme, proposed by the government in a bid to reduce litter in NSW by 40% by 2016, will see consumers earn 10 cents per can returned.
The project has created friction between the government and the powerful beverages industry, which says that its introduction in NSW would create job losses.
Meanwhile, Sydney households already receive rewards for recycling in an Australian first initiative by Sydney-based technology company GreenMoney.
The GreenMoney program aims to encourage recycling and increase environmental awareness by allocating reward points to households for every kilo of waste recycled, which are then redeemed for free coffee and meals out.
Thousands of Sydney residents have joined the program since its introduction in March 2012 in the City of Randwick, with new members signing up every day.
The packaging association and NSW Environment Protection Authority recently funded an evaluation of the GreenMoney program titled, 'Like frequent flyer points for recycling'.
The report, released in October 2014, found that 72 per cent of households involved in the program have changed their behaviour and are recycling more. This is reflected in a 10.4 per cent increase in the amount households are recycling in their yellow lidded bin.
GreenMoney spokesperson Suzanna Kukulovski said, 'GreenMoney members can save around $240 each year just by recycling at home. With the cash-for-cans scheme, households would need to drop off 2,400 cans or bottles per year, that's around 46 beverages consumed each week, or 6.6 a day.'
'GreenMoney supports any scheme that helps reduce waste and increase recycling, but the benefit of our recycling rewards program is that it won't cost consumers extra and what gets recycled isn't just one small part of litter,' she said.
