Ballarat residents save millions of drink containers from landfill

Almost 36 million drink containers have been saved from landfill in Ballarat since the start of a state-wide recycling program.

Victoria’s container deposit scheme celebrated its one year anniversary earlier this month.

CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway, James Dorney, says over three and a half million dollars has gone back into the pockets of local residents.

“It’s really got off to a great start. I think [over] summer we’ll continue to see volumes grow through Ballarat,” he said.

“Obviously [we] want to thank all the citizens who participated in the scheme from the start, or come on over the first year, because everybody has contributed to that amazing benchmark of one billion containers being returned [statewide] in the first year of operation.”