The initiative commenced on December 1 last year, offering residents the chance to earn a 10-cent refund on cans and selected plastic and glass bottles.

Across NSW, more than 944 million containers have been returned to a mix of Reverse Vending Machines, over-the-counter points and automated bulky depots.

Around 50 million of those deposits have been in the Central West, with Orange’s two RVM – located at the north Orange shopping centre and outside Flip Out in Edward Street – responsible for accepting 6,398,147 items.

By way of comparison, Dubbo has seen 12,195,657 items fed into its two RVM, while Bathurst residents deposited 9,570,302 items in the city’s four collection points, which includes a bulky depot.

Among other centres in the region 5,219,569 items were accepted at Young’s three machines, followed by Cowra (4,291,099), Parkes (3,770,053), Lithgow (3,481,092), Wellington (2,897,545), Mudgee (1,019,559) and Forbes (440,805).

All told, there are 31 return points across the Central West which generated almost $5 million in returns to residents in the last 12 months.

All other return centres in the region operate over-the-counter in retail outlets and figures are not available for these locations.

A NSW Environment Protection Authority spokeswoman praised Central West residents for the number of returns.

“The scheme has been very well embraced by communities,” he said.

With summer and the Christmas/New Year holiday season fast approaching, the EPA spokeswoman said an increase in average return volumes was anticipated.

“We encourage people to plan ahead for their Return and Earn experience and check the website for details of return points nearest to them including whether reverse vending machines are nearing capacity,” she said.

“Weekends are popular return days so it’s best to go during the week if possible.”

The EPA spokeswoman said possible RVM closures were anticipated over the festive period, however, the dates were still being finalised.

“Last year the RVM network was closed on Christmas Day and reopened on Boxing Day and we expect it to be the same this year, but people should check the Return and Earn website (www.returnandearn.org.au) for updates,” she said.

“Over-the-counter and automated depot trading hours over this period are determined by each individual business.”

THE container deposit scheme rewards consumers for returning containers, cans and bottles to designated recycling points with a 10 cent refund per eligible container. Check out the video.

The refund can be:

Collected containers will be processed through a counting and sorting centre in Western Sydney.

They will then be recycled and sold into both domestic and export markets. Recovering these resources will create a closed loop, making a sustainable future possible.

The majority of containers covered under this scheme are beverage containers ranging from 150 millilitres to 3 litres. Containers can be made from:

Containers that are not included in the Scheme and, therefore, do not qualify for a refund are:

These exceptions are like those in the South Australian and Northern Territory container deposit schemes, to aid consistency.