Canberra’s Corroboree Group begun recycling bottles and cans as a way to assist the group’s young clients.
The organisation provides a range of services to assist Indigenous people, especially youths, with employment. The ACT Container Deposit Scheme has given them a way to raise a bit of extra money for incidental expenses. It has also become a path for some of the young people to develop skills and take on responsibilities.
“By collecting bottles and cans around our office, we were able to provide some local Indigenous youth with money to purchase their phone credits and other nice-to-haves which they would not otherwise get.” said Managing Director Colin Williams.
“The scheme also provides them with the structure and necessary work ethic which can be used in the workforce.’
All the staff at the office deposit bottles and cans in the designated bin, but it’s the young clients who are responsible for the entire process of sorting and returning the containers,” says Colin.
“The concept is to provide a framework which allows them to practice being independent and solely responsible for a task, and to work through a process which can provide them with life skills,” he said.
So far more than 5,000 containers have been recycled by the Corroboree Group, raising $500 for the youths who manage the process.
The recycling also ties into the organisation’s environmental policy, as they are consistently looking for ways to reduce waste and lighten their impact on the environment.
“We now produce far less waste at the office and are more conscious of the waste that is being produced.
“Simply, this is a useful exercise. It has cut the amount of waste in our bins enormously and it encourages the Indigenous youth who participate to be a part of something productive. Hopefully, we can make this something bigger in the future,” Colin said.
Get involved with the ACT Container Deposit Scheme or find your nearest return point.
The ACT CDS is a partnership between the ACT Government, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change and network operator Return-It.
