The state government says people have reaped more than $500 million by cashing in containers for change.
They say 5 billion containers have been refunded.
Environment minister Meaghan Scanlon said it was a significant milestone reached last week, with tonnes of bottles, cans and poppers being recycled.
“Containers have become too good to waste,” Ms Scanlon said.
“Not only have we reduced the amount of rubbish ending up in waterways, we’ve given new life to thousands of tonnes of recycled materials and created hundreds of good jobs at the same time.
“Through Containers for Change and our $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund, Queensland has become a powerhouse in the war on waste and for the emerging resource recovery industry.”
The Containers for Change scheme provides a 10-cent refund to customers returning eligible beverage containers to more than 360 refund points across the Queensland-wide network.
“More than 800 jobs have been created through the scheme as Queenslanders help us sort, count and process these billions of containers refunded – and we know there’s billions more to come.”
