Aluminium soft drink cans collected for recycling in Australia exported to Thailand, South Korea, Netherlands

Billions of soft drink cans collected for recycling are being shipped to Thailand, South Korea and the Netherlands because Australia does not have the facilities.

Australia has no capacity to recycle aluminium cans. Picture: Karina Grift

Billions of aluminium soft drink cans collected for recycling in Australia are not being recycled onshore, the rubbish instead shipped overseas to Thailand, South Korea and The Netherlands.

An ongoing investigation by The Australian into the nation’s recycling industry and container exchange programs has confirmed there are no onshore facilities able to repurpose used aluminium drink cans, despite being a world leader in production of alumina and aluminium.

Active container exchange schemes are being run in all jurisdictions apart from Tasmania and Victoria – where they’re being set up – and more than eight billion soft drink cans have been exported for recycling.

Australia then buys back the aluminium sheeting the overseas recycling plans produce.

Australian Council of Recycling chief executive Suzanne Toumbourou said onshore reprocessing facilities for aluminium did not exist.

“There is a strong market for recycled aluminium as a valued commodity that it is infinitely recyclable. Currently, reprocessing facilities for aluminium cans are overseas,” Ms Toumbourou said.

“It would be great to see the establishment of onshore aluminium recycling facilities, supporting jobs and great environmental outcomes in Australia.”

NSW’s Return and Earn container exchange scheme, launched in December 2017, has collected 3.97 billion aluminium cans, and exports the waste to South Korea and The Netherlands.

“Network operator TOMRA Cleanaway is contractually obliged to deliver all NSW container deposit scheme material for reuse or recycling, domestically or internationally,” a spokeswoman for the NSW Environment Protection Authority said.

“As of April 2023, 3.97 billion aluminium cans have been returned for recycling through the network of return points in NSW.

“Aluminium cans collected through Return and Earn are exported to countries including South Korea and The Netherlands, where they are recycled into new beverage containers and other products. There are currently no aluminium processing plants in Australia.”

In Queensland, the Containers for Change scheme has collected 3.2 billion aluminium cans since it began in late 2018, and 10,893 tonnes in the 2022 financial year alone. Most is sold to South Korea.

“The used beverage cans are then made into an aluminium sheeting product, which is then on-sold to Australia and other countries,” a Department of Environment spokesman said.

Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon says all containers collected by the state’s recycling scheme must be recycled under the law - even if they’re shipped overseas. Picture: Brendan Radke

Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said all containers collected and processed by the state’s container exchange scheme – established in late 2018 – were recycled.

“We want to see more recycling here in Queensland, which is why we’ve established a $1.1bn Recycling and Jobs fund – the largest investment in our state’s history,” Ms Scanlon said.

 The Australian reported last week that in the 18 months since the fund was announced, only $22.3m had been spent of $48m allocated.

Queensland has also exported about 1400 tonnes of popper juice boxes – made from liquid paperboard – to India and Turkey since 2018. That practice will be banned by the federal government from the middle of next year.

COEX, the private not-for-profit business contracted by the Queensland government to run the container exchange program, has not yet released an independent audit into the company that exports poppers to India.

In Western Australia, 932 million aluminium cans have been collected since its scheme began in October 2020, and exported to South Korea and Thailand.

A WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation spokeswoman said: “Local producers are exploring the potential to invest in infrastructure to enable recycling of aluminium containers in Australia.”

South Australians returned 78 million soft drink cans in 2021-22, and the waste was sent to overseas markets for recycling.

In the ACT, 120 million aluminium cans have been returned to recycling points since the scheme started in June 2018, and have been exported to South Korea.

“All eligible aluminium containers collected … are baled and sold via local traders directly to South Korea to produce new containers and other products,” an ACT government spokesman said.