Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme

Make your recycling count toward conservation.

A sign indicating approval for Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme with a background of lush green ferns and trees, featuring a logo with a kangaroo and a wallaby in front of a sun, and text highlighting the scheme as an approved donation partner.

The Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) is a recycling scheme for certain types of bottles, cans, and cartons that anyone can use to receive a 10c refund per container recycled.

Originally created to reduce litter, container deposit schemes have far-reaching environmental, financial and social benefits. They provide individuals and community groups with a financial incentive to recycle. This keeps waste out of landfill and our ecosystems.

The state of Victoria introduced a CDS in 2023. Charities and community groups can sign-up as a donation partner with their Victorian CDS Zone Operator and as the public, you can convert your recycling into a donation for your favourite partnered organisation instead of receiving your 10 cents.

The Conservation Ecology Centre is registered as a donation partner with the operator of Western Vic Zone: TOMRA Cleanway. This means you can recycle your aluminium cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, and paperboard cartons and choose for your donation to be paid to the Conservation Ecology Centre.

So, don’t dispose! Turn your used containers into new products by recycling them at a TOMRA machine and make them count toward conservation.

How to donate your cans and bottles in 4 easy steps:

A screenshot of a mobile app store showing the CDS Vic West app page with download options, search bar, and app features, overlaid on a background of lush green ferns and forest.

Step 1.
Download the free CDC Vic West App

Mobile app screen showing a charity donation interface with barcode scanner, payout options, and donation details, over a background of lush green ferns.

Step 2.
Create a profile using your email address and select ‘charities’ as your payout method.

Screenshot of an environmental conservation fundraising webpage with sections for charities, donation tracking, and a campaign to give kindness to the Otways, set against a lush forest background.

Step 3.
Search for the ‘Conservation Ecology Centre’, select and tap ‘Set as payment’ and then ‘Donation’. Your future recycling sessions will all now be donated to us.

Digital illustration with green forest background, showing a hand holding a smartphone with a barcode on the screen, and outlines of various recyclable cans and bottles around it. Text explains how to donate cans and bottles by scanning the barcode.

Step 4.
Take your eligible cans, bottles and cartons to a CDS West Vic TOMRA machine, open your app, scan the barcode and your container deposits will be donated.

That’s it! Thank you from the whole team at the Conservation Ecology Centre, your recycling is now helping us protect Australian wildlife and their homes.