Cashing in on green theme
A NEW recycling depot has opened in Garbutt as part of the Containers for Change scheme.
Return- It has opened in a 700sq m premises at Mackley St, Garbutt, and accepts eligible cans and bottles for recycling in exchange for a cash refund.
The facility is already processing more than 4000 cans and bottles a day.
Return- It Townsville branch manager Nicholas Garbutt said the Garbutt premises provided easy access for people wanting to drop off cans and bottles.
“We chose this location as we have the main road going through so you have easy access,” he said. “There is also plenty of car spaces and because it’s a noisy business we needed to be in an industrial area so this worked well.
“We also own the recycling plant in Townsville so we send all the cans and plastic bottles to the Ingham Rd depot.”
The Townsville depot is Return- It’s 10th in Queensland and employs 10 people.
The facility also accepts crushed cans but cannot process the lids of plastic bottles.
Return- It also has express locations across Townsville where people can get a refund deposited into their account. The Garbutt depot can process cash refunds.
The Containers for Change scheme provides a 10 cent refund for each eligible container returned at one of the Container Refund Points such as Return- It.
The aim of the scheme is to increase the rate of recycling in Queensland.
Ray White Commercial Townsville agent Tony Parker said Return- It had taken on a five- year lease.
“They wanted a facility that allowed people to come in easily with trailers,” he said. “An attraction was also that it was near Woolcock St, which is a major feeder road and it was geographically central for people who want to do drop- offs.”