Surf Life Saving NSW has revealed more than 70 surf clubs across the state have signed up to become donation sites for the NSW Government’s Return and Earn Container Deposit Scheme.
In partnership with Envirobank Recycling, community members can take eligible drink containers within the scheme to a local surf club and donate the 10-cent per container proceeds to Surf Life Saving. It is expected that more of the 129 Surf Life Saving Clubs in NSW will become donation sites throughout 2018.
Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the Surf Life Saving donation sites are a smart way for charities to benefit from the scheme.
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“Not only do surf club donation sites enable people to help one of the state’s largest volunteer community organisations, they also provide additional and convenient drink container collection points for everyone.”
CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW Steven Pearce said the program has provided an entirely new way for club and community members to raise funds for the vital services provided by volunteer surf lifesavers.
“For every drink container donated by a member of the public, eight cents goes directly to the local surf club where the containers are deposited. The remaining two cents will be used by Surf Life Saving NSW to fund community education programs, help train lifesavers and provide vital lifesaving and rescue equipment to our clubs,” Mr Pearce said.
“Thanks to the generosity of our members and the community, if we capture just a fraction of the estimated 1.6 billion drink containers to be recycled over the next 20 years through the scheme, I have no doubt it has the potential to become a long-term source of fundraising,” he said.
According to Narelle Anderson, Managing Director and founder of Envirobank Recycling, in other states where container deposit schemes are already operational, charitable donations comprise the major component of the public’s reimbursements.
“Envirobank has been a long-term network operator in the Northern Territory scheme and it’s evident the program is much more than a litter collection initiative,” she said.
“With the right partnerships in place the scheme has the potential to raise substantial funds for many charities that deliver the vital services we need in our communities.”
How Surf Life Saving Club Donation sites will work:
- Participating Surf Life Saving Clubs will host secure and safe donation ‘cages’.
- Club and community members will be provided environmentally-friendly and protective bags made from recycled PET to collect and store containers at home, school and/or work.
- At club-designated times, community members can bring collected containers to the local surf club for drop-off and donation.
- When cages are full, Envirobank Recycling will send a mobile collection truck to collect all containers and empty the cages. Donation proceeds will be recorded with Surf Life Saving NSW who will dispense the funds to the participating clubs.
- Clubs will accept aluminium cans and plastic PET bottles. Containers must be empty with lids off.
Operational Donation Sites from Monday 22 January, 2018:
- Birubi Point SLSC
- Bulli SLSC
- Cape Hawke SLSC
- Cooks Hills SLSC
- Forster SLSC
- Gerringong SLSC
- Killcare SLSC
- Ocean Beach SLSC
- Scarborough Wombarra SLSC
- Shellharbour SLSC
- Warilla Barrack Point SLSC
- Woolgoolga SLSC