Reverse recycling pays at the Sydney Aquarium

Clean Up Australia Day champion Ian Kiernan AO has thrown his support behind a new recycling venture at Sydney Aquarium that is on a mission to prove that recycling pays big dividends for both the environment and recyclers.

The aquarium installed the Envirobank recycling machine in January this year. Similar to a vending machine, customers can deposit an empty plastic bottle, aluminium can or plastic cup into the Envirobank and they will be guaranteed a reward voucher for instant redemptions.

By offering immediate rewards for recycling, the product provides an effective, incentivised public place recycling initiative using reverse vending machines that tangibly reward consumers through prizes, discount offers or by making a donation to charity.

After only one month in operation, the Sydney Aquarium Envirobank successfully recycled 1093 PET bottles and aluminium cans, and has generated benefits for recyclers, business, charity and environmental initiatives including:

• 683 recyclers rewarded with coffee and cake or free Lego toys
• 317 children entitled to enter Sydney Tower free after recycling their litter
• 93 people entitled to adopt a dugong under the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund

According to Claudette Rechtorvik from the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund, each year, Sydney Aquarium faces the issues of disposing recyclable cans and bottles in its general rubbish collection, where recycling bins are often contaminated and the contents end up in landfill instead of in a recycling process.

“We wanted a way to drastically reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in Sydney Harbour as well as to educate visitors about responsible litter disposal by setting a prime example,” she said.

“Sydney Aquarium is one of Australia’s premier tourist attractions, and we are not content to only showcase Australia’s unique aquatic animals; we are committed to conserving our aquatic wildlife and their habitats through our own actions.

“This project with Envirobank is making a significant impact on reducing the 2778 m³ of rubbish pulled from Sydney Harbour annually by NSW Maritime and helping the 77 species of marine animals that are impacted by pollution in the harbour.”