Exchange for Change has announced the new fixed price per material type for supplier contributions that fund the NSW and ACT container deposit schemes (CDS), with the new prices effective for 12 months for invoices issued from February 2023 to January 2024 (inclusive).
Under the NSW scheme, beverage suppliers pay a fixed price per material type. The current weighted average price per eligible drink container they supply into NSW for the 12-month period from August 2022 to January 2023 is 11.71 cents (excluding GST).
From February 2023, the new weighted average price (excluding GST) per eligible container will be 11.73 cents.
For the ACT, the current weighted average price per eligible drink container for the six-month period from August 2022 to January 2023 is 12.23 cents (excluding GST). From February 2023, the new weighted average price (excluding GST) per eligible container will be 11.96 cents.
Both schemes operate on a cost-recovery basis. Supplier contribution pricing is calculated to cover the expected operating costs of the scheme during the pricing period, with any surplus funds or shortfalls factored into future pricing.
Speaking about the NSW CDS, CEO of Exchange for Change, Danielle Smalley said: “We’re pleased to return to a 12-month fixed pricing period following the economic uncertainty of the last 18-months which necessitated six-monthly pricing periods.
“We know providing pricing certainty and maintaining stability is very important to beverage suppliers.
“Today’s pricing announcement follows robust modelling which reviewed four years’ of supply and redemption data, alongside the latest consumer research insights and consultation with the beverage industry to enable us to accurately forecast scheme costs for the period ahead.”
For the ACT scheme, Smalley said: “The ACT CDS continues to go from strength-to-strength, achieving one of the highest redemption rates in the country with 75 per cent of containers supplied into the ACT being redeemed through the scheme.
“This is an extraordinary achievement which in no small part is thanks to the beverage industry working together with government, the waste and recycling industry and the ACT community to achieve a more sustainable future.
“Providing pricing certainty and stability for suppliers in a key priority for us at Exchange for Change. We have undertaken robust modelling to accurately forecast scheme costs for the period ahead. This has included reviewing four years of supply and redemption data for the ACT and the latest consumer research insights, as well as consultation with the beverage industry.”
The NSW Return and Earn scheme recently celebrated the return of more than eight billion containers, while in the ACT more than 366 million containers have been collected since its CDS began.
New NSW CDS supplier contribution pricing by material type:
| Material type | Current pricing (cents)1 (Aug-22 to Jan-23) | Future pricing (cents)1 (Feb-23 to Jan-24) |
| Aluminium | 13.12 | 12.90 |
| Glass | 12.52 | 13.72 |
| HDPE | 7.26 | 8.10 |
| PET | 10.65 | 11.48 |
| LPB (liquid paperboard) | 5.03 | 4.91 |
| Steel | 7.22 | 7.75 |
| Other plastics | 3.45 | 1.90 |
| Other material | 7.76 | 3.67 |
| Weighted average | 11.71 | 11.73 |
New ACT CDS supplier contribution pricing by material type:
| Material type | Current pricing (cents)1 (applied to invoices issued Aug-22 to Jan-23) | Future pricing (cents)1 (applied to invoices issued Feb-23 to Jan-24) |
| Aluminium | 14.23 | 14.11 |
| Glass | 13.72 | 13.95 |
| HDPE | 6.10 | 8.00 |
| PET | 10.76 | 10.25 |
| LPB (liquid paperboard) | 4.55 | 4.92 |
| Steel | 3.69 | 2.46 |
| Other plastics | 1.69 | 1.39 |
| Other material | 1.63 | 1.43 |
| Weighted average | 12.23 | 11.96 |