George Town has become the latest council to bolt container collection baskets onto its public bins, extending a statewide trial that has already reached five other municipalities.
The baskets sit on the side of standard street bins and are marked for eligible drink containers only, including cans, bottles and cartons.
Instead of binning a container, people can leave it in the basket for someone else to collect and return through Recycle Rewards for a 10-cent refund.
The council announced the rollout last week, describing it as “a simple idea” that keeps recyclable containers out of landfill and cuts litter.
“Next time you’re out and about, keep an eye out for these new baskets and help give eligible containers a second chance,” it said.
Baskets and racks first went up in July across Launceston’s city parks and malls, Clarence at Kangaroo Bay, Meander Valley at Deloraine and Prospect, Waratah-Wynyard along the Wynyard foreshore and at Currie on King Island.
Hobart’s rivulet track and New Norfolk were also flagged for the trial, with Recycle Rewards pointing to strong interest from councils.
TasRecycle CEO and scheme coordinator Ken Roughley previously said the idea was to make recycling easier where people are most likely to be drinking away from home.
“The container basket trial gives people a quick, visible way to do the right thing,” Roughley said.
More than 166 million containers have been returned since the scheme launched in May 2025, across 45 reverse vending machines and four depots.
Scheme figures put the redemption rate at 58% on a 12-month rolling average, meaning around four in every ten eligible containers sold in Tasmania are still not coming back for a refund.
Litter from eligible containers has dropped 50% since the scheme began, according to the Recycle Rewards dashboard.
More than $430,000 has gone to charities and community groups.
