Victorians in every corner of the state have thrown their support behind the Allan Labor Government’s Container Deposit Scheme – returning more than 100 million containers, and pocketing over $10 million in refunds in just two months.

Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos marked the milestone today at the new Return-It depot at South Melbourne – one of around 400 convenient refund points across the state.

The CDS is breaking records every week, with a staggering 15.8 million containers collected in the week before Christmas and a record 17.1 million containers returned last week. The biggest day to date was Friday 5 January with 3.18 million containers returned.

The CDS is processing an average of around 10 million cans, cartons and bottles across the state every week, with Victorians returning an average of 129 containers per transaction.

Regional Victorians continue to step up to the challenge in impressive numbers, with Mildura leading the state in container returns having returned over 4.1 million containers. Shepparton rivals this turnout with more than 2.6 million containers collected, followed by Kangaroo Flat (more than 2.1 million) and Ballarat South (2 million).

Melton has been Melbourne’s best-performing refund point, having returned an astounding 3.9 million cans, glass and PET plastics, followed by the Hallam depot with more than 2.6 million.

Of all the containers returned since the scheme commenced, aluminium cans have been the most popular making up 53 percent of returns, followed by PET (26 percent), glass (18 percent).

Container returns continue to increase and Victoria’s network of refund points will continue to grow to meet demand, making the scheme the most convenient and accessible in the country.

Victorians can choose to pocket the refund or donate their containers to one of the 1600 participating charities, sports, community, environmental or educational groups.

Returned drink containers can be transformed into all kinds of new things, including material for roads, furniture, construction, textiles and more – creating new economic opportunities and will support more than 600 jobs across Victoria.

The Labor Government has invested $515 million to transform the Victoria’s waste and recycling system, helping us achieve our target of diverting 80 per cent of all material away from landfill by 2030.

To find your nearest refund point and for more information, visit cdsvic.org.au.