How Kenneth ‘Brad’ Sonter made $10k with Containers for Change

Meet the entrepreneur, businessman, truckie and grand-pop who turned a pile of cans and bottles into $10,000, and why he is not spending a cent of it.

An entrepreneur, truckie and opportunist has made himself almost $10,000 from collecting and cashing in the humble can or plastic bottle at Containers for Change.

On the outskirts of Widgee, a small community 20 minutes from Gympie, Kenneth Sonter and his wife have been involved in running Widgee Pet Care for the past 20 years.

But Mr Sonter’s real passion is collecting cans and turning them into cash – something he has been doing since he was a teenager.

Kenneth Sonter has been collecting bottles since he was a teenager and cashing them in for change. Since news of his first grandchild he found a reason to save the bottles, cash them in, and now he's collected almost 10k for his grandchildren's future. Picture: Supplied

It all started when his dad made him paint up a sign with the words, “For Sale – Horse Manure”, and he’d shovel horse manure into bags and sell them to passers-by.

This simple act taught Mr Sonter the value of how small things can add up to big things.

“Every 10c counts,” he said, standing over six boxes of XXXX beer cans in his Widgee shed.

The fortune was not amassed overnight, but a slow satisfaction derived from counting each can or bottle, crushing them, and keeping them organised in his shed until their time came to be turned in.

“I had help,” he said. .

Friends would bring him boxes of cans and bottles after parties and he’d pick up random ones by the side of the road.

Years of collecting cans has made Brad Sonter almost $10,000. Picture: Supplied

He amassed his collection for almost 15 years before the Containers For Change scheme started in Queensland in 2018.

It was the news of his first grandchild that motivated him to make a regular weekly visit to the Containers For Change centre at Glanmire from November 2019.

Only able to deposit 300 bottles or cans at time due to regulations, each deposit grew his granddaughter’s account little by little.

By 2021 he’d collected $7000 for her future and switched over to an account for the second child his daughter was expecting, with a tally which now stands at almost $2000.

Kenneth Sonter has been collecting bottles since he was a teenager and cashing them in for change. Since news of his first grandchild he found a reason to save the bottles, cash them in, and now he's collected almost 10k for his grandchildren's future. Picture: Christine Schindler

According to his count to date, he has deposited 85,532 bottles or cans since November 2019.

Before the Containers for Change scheme was implemented, only 18 per cent of cans and bottles were being recovered and recycled in Queensland.

A statement from the Queensland Government in September 2023 said the rate is now at around 64 per cent.

Mr Sonter’s attitude towards the cans extends well-beyond his neatly lined notebook of deposits, or “man’s diary” as he called it.

“They took a bit of time to figure the system out,” he said showing the story of the figures and how initially a number of deposits were short changed.

While the scheme accepts glass wine and spirit bottles from November 1, 2023, Mr Sonter has a couple of other suggestions too.

Firstly smashing the cans saves so much more room, and providing a place to recycle the cardboard boxes people bring the cans in.

“Every bit counts,” he said.