Container deposit schemes in New South Wales and South Australia will accept wine and spirit bottles and larger drink containers from late 2027.
Consumers will able to cash in their wine bottles for 10 cents each at recycling depots as they do now with beer bottles.
It will add extra costs for wineries and couldn’t come at a worse time as the industry battles an oversupply and other challenges including changes in consumer drinking habits.
“It’s a kick in the guts to an industry that has been hamstrung by government decision,” South Australian Opposition spokesman Tim Whetstone said.
Australian Grape & Wine has expressed deep disappointment at the decision.
“This decision couldn’t come at a worse time for our industry,” said Lee McLean, chief executive of Australian Grape & Wine.
“Australian winemakers are already grappling with global oversupply, rising production costs, and the ongoing recovery from the loss of the China export market.
“Adding another $85 million in costs nationally through CDS expansion will only compound these pressures.”
He said that Australian Grape & Wine has consistently supported measures that deliver real and measurable environmental outcomes.
However, the inclusion of wine bottles in CDS schemes will impose significant new costs on wine businesses across Australia while providing limited additional environmental benefit.
Mr McLean emphasised that harmonisation must be at the centre of any national approach.
“It’s not just about agreeing on container type, refund amount, or labelling,” he said.
“True harmonisation means aligning product registration, invoicing, reporting, and payment systems. Without this, producers are forced to navigate a complex patchwork of duplicative and costly compliance arrangements across different states and territories.”
To help reduce the burden, Australian Grape & Wine is calling on governments to ensure adequate transition arrangements, so businesses have time to adapt, cost impact relief for small producers such as exemptions or thresholds, and-most importantly-a genuinely harmonised national approach across all schemes, including registration, invoicing, reporting, and payments.
Australian Grape & Wine will continue to work constructively with governments to ensure that any changes minimise duplication, reduce costs, and deliver fair outcomes for wine businesses of all sizes, while supporting genuine environmental objectives.
“We call on all governments to recognise the economic and social importance of the Australian grape and wine sector, and to work with us on solutions that safeguard both our environment and the sustainability of our industry,” Mr McLean said.
In a joint statement, the South Australian and NSW governments said the container deposit scheme – which is now active in every state and territory – is “the most successful recycling program in Australia’s history”.
“These new containers will not be accepted at refund points immediately, giving the wine and spirits industry time to adjust and allowing collection points and systems to ramp up for the additional new containers,” the statement said.
Queensland has already integrated glass wine and spirit bottles into its container deposit scheme.
Western Australia committed to expanding its scheme during the recent state election.
The Northern Territory has also recently announced it will bring in legislation to expand its scheme.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said: “For almost half a century, South Australia has led the nation on container deposit legislation. It’s been an incredible success story.
“Now it is time to take the next step, and to do so in a coordinated way.
“Each year around 660 million drink containers (about 40,000 tonnes) are returned by South Australians for refund and recycling, preventing those containers from being littered or sent to landfill.
“We expect that number to increase once these changes take effect – delivering further financial benefit to community groups, sporting clubs and charities.”
NSW Minister for Environment Penny Sharpe said: “The container deposit scheme is fantastic for the environment, great for our recycling industry and also puts money back in people’s pockets.
“By expanding to include more types of beverages, it’s estimated at least 27,000 tonnes of materials will be saved from landfill each year in NSW.
“It’s really important that people don’t try to take their wine bottles to a return and earn machine tomorrow. We’re working with industry to ensure a smooth transition and to ensure return systems will be ready to handle the new containers by mid-2027.”
SA Deputy Premier Susan Close said, “We’ve listened to industry concerns, particularly from smaller wine producers, and we will continue to engage closely with them as reforms roll out.
“We will assist the wine and spirit industry with this transition and will work with the industry to ensure the least cost, simplest approach possible, with a special focus on assisting smaller operations.”
South Australia’s container deposit scheme was the first introduced in Australia in 1977.
Residents now return an average of 660 million drink containers each year. The expansion will coincide with the program’s 50thanniversary.
NSW’s Return and Earn scheme has seen more than 14 billion drink containers returned at more than 660 container refund points across the state since its introduction in December 2017.
It is estimated the expansion will see an additional 362 million containers recycled each year in NSW alone.
Western Australia introduced Containers for Change on 1 October 2020 and the scheme is gaining speed with more than 4.4 billion containers returned at more than 260 refund points, as well as the creation of hundreds of jobs in the state.
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