Straddie considers cash for bottles for green boozy tourists

A bottle and container recycling contract is under consideration on Minjerribah North Stradbroke Island, five years after a similar trial scheme failed.

Tourists to Minjerribah North Straddie may soon be able to cut some of their costs by cashing in their wine bottles and containers, if a new recycling scheme starts up after November 1.

Tourists on one of the state’s busiest island resorts may soon be able to pay for some of their holiday by drinking more.

A bottle and container recycling contract is under consideration on Minjerribah North Stradbroke Island, five years after a similar trial scheme failed.

Expressions of interest for the lucrative contract ended this week with only one submission made to Container Exchange, the not-for-profit organisation set up by the state government to govern the program.

Under the scheme, tourists staying on the island and residents would be able to cash in and get 10c for every bottle and container they take to the recycling depot.

COEX shut down a small-scale operation on the island in 2018 after the logistics of carting the bottles and cans off the island on a ferry or barge rendered the scheme “unsustainable”.

However, since the state government announced that the 10c cash-for-a-container program would be extended to include wine bottles from November, COEX called for expressions of interest for new island refund points.

Straddie Chamber of Commerce president Colin Battersby said despite only one submission, the island was crying out for the scheme in an effort to live up to its reputation as the Tourist Green Island.

“After sand mining ended in 2020, the island was supposed to become an eco-tourism haven but we still do not have recycling on the island,” he said.

“A local charity has three trailers parked across the island for residents to donate their empty containers but most just dump recyclables into their council rubbish bins.

“There are only 450 houses at Point Lookout and 350 of those are holiday rentals so this would be for tourists as well.

“Tourists would definitely make use of such a scheme if the depots were located in accessible spots – away from food or restaurants.”

Island residents had previously asked for refund depots at Dunwich, Amity and Home Beach near the bowls club.

Expressions of interest for the island business included four types of collection points – a depot, a bag drop, a pop-up or a reverse vending machine.

COEX said it would work with local stakeholders to provide container recycling solutions to support the island’s 2200 residents and influx of tourists at peak times.

COEX customer community container exchange general manager Sam Nicholson said locations were yet to be determined.

“The expressions of interest process, which ended on June 6, will determine the location and operating model for the refund point at North Stradbroke,” she said.

“We have worked with a number of stakeholders, including several community groups, to trial container removal from the island in the past but none of those trials were deemed to be viable solutions long term.

“This is an opportunity to deliver the recycling scheme to the 2200 residents of North Stradbroke Island which includes the catchment of the tourism market that frequents the Island.

Minjerribah North Straddie is growing as an eco-tourism resort.

“We believe there is a better way to recycle containers on the island that positively impacts individuals, communities, and the environment.

“There are unique challenges and opportunities on the island to provide improved refund point accessibility and a positive experience for customers when they return their containers.

“We will ensure that all refund points meet Redland City Council zoning requirements and that will be a part of the expressions of interest evaluation.”

Ms Nicholson said hitches with the previous trial related to the cost and logistics of taking waste off the island.

She said it was “most likely” the new operator would use the standard solution of moving the recycled material by a heavy vehicle, likely a 12-pallet truck using the existing commercial barge, owned by SeaLink.

Under the scheme, established in 2018, most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers, between 150ml and 3L are eligible for a 10c refund.