Award Nomination for Local Recycling Scheme by Kenmore Rotary

A local community, who obtained a Containers for Change Scheme ID when the scheme  began in November 2018, has been nominated for a “Change Maker award Charity/Community Group.”



Kenmore Rotary Club was an early adopter in the movement to recycle plastic containers and the program, run by the members of the club, has evolved into a wide array of collection points across Kenmore through to Moggill.

Kenmore Rotary members Michael Fitzgerald and Ken Ryan have used their combined career knowledge to take the project to the next level since COVID put everything on hold.

Kenmore Rotary Pullenvale Container Recycling Station
Photo Credit: Supplied

“Our initial intention was for the recycling project to be one of our community projects that raised some revenue and reduced landfill,” says Michael Fitzgerald, a former Queensland Law Society President.

“As a club, we are always looking at assisting the community and raising revenue that can be used for the range of good causes our Rotary Club supports.”

Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

Included in the plan was the engagement of schools in the local area, getting students to encourage parents to recycle containers through Kenmore Rotary’s collection network.

“Initially, we had two very large cages manufactured that were placed at E-Waste in Kenmore Hills and  Pullenvale Marketplace,” says former Town Planner, Ken Ryan.

Local State MP Christian Rowan played a role in helping Kenmore Rotary apply for a grant from the Department of the Environment. The grant application was successful and a trailer was purchased that enabled club members, some 30-strong volunteers, to run a roster emptying the cages and delivering the containers to a Coex depot where they were turned into a cash donation to the club.

Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

This led to more donation points being arranged at:

The Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Kenmore
St Catherine’s Church  in Moggill
The Anglican Church in Kenmore
A member’s house in Aronia Street in Kenmore

Later three further collection points were added:

A cafe on Brookfield Road in Kenmore
A block of units in Merlin Terrace in Kenmore
A commercial property in Brookfield

With the scheme increasing to include wine and spirit bottles, the wider network became difficult for members to keep up with, and so Ken and Michael started to have conversations with Community Co Recycling Pty Ltd (the Coex operator the Club has been working with in relation to collections for several years). This led to the Club booking them to pick up from the various sites, freeing Kenmore Rotary members up to focus on other ways to raise revenue and support the range of local good causes as well as school children in PNG.

The project to date has stopped 537,085 containers being added to landfill and raised $153,708.50 distributed between Kenmore Rotary good causes and partners.

Kenmore Rotary’s current range of local good causes supported:

A Domestic Violence shelter, Domestic Violence support services, including Legal services;
Youth mentoring programs from STEM programs to Leadership programs;
Learner Driver programs;
Supporting children in desperate need and delivering Primary and Secondary school awards;
Community programs from running the annual Citizenship Ceremony, to ANZAC day, to the Brookfield Show, to a range of Christmas food donations to those in need;
A range of defibrillators bought and installed at the Brookfield Showgrounds, Pullenvale Marketplace and Kenmore Village Shopping Centre.

Kenmore Rotary’s range of overseas programs supported:

An Opthamologist’s Program in Nepal to help Nepali people in desperate need of eyesight help;
An Arts Centre in Port Moresby;
Various donations to PNG through “Donations in Kind.”
Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

Kenmore Rotary has also been instrumental in raising funds for e-Waste which enables disabled youths to access work experience through the NDIS.



A humble group of 40 members donating their time and expertise in the Kenmore area can achieve great things. Tt’s no surprise they have been nominated for a Change Maker Award.

Published 6-Oct-2024

Rotary Club of Kenmore and OLR Open a Containers for Change Bag Drop Facility

Residents looking for more ways to manage containers waste will be pleased to know that a new  Containers for Change bag drop facility has opened at St Catherine’s in Moggill Road, adjacent to the Moggill Village Shopping Centre.



The Rotary Club of Kenmore has partnered with the Our Lady of Rosary Parish Kenmore-Moggill to install this facility for individuals or community groups with a Containers for Change scheme ID to drop items that can be recycled or reused as other products in exchange for cash.  

Bag drops will also enable Kenmore Rotary and OLR to earn credits that can help fund their causes, activities, and community projects. If you wish to donate your credits, insert the Kenmore Rotary scheme ID C10003721 when you bag, tag, and drop your items. Proceeds of your donation will be shared between Kenmore Rotary and OLR.

Photo Credit: Rotary Club of Kenmore/Facebook

Containers for Change collects most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and 3L in size. Deposited items are eligible for a 10-cent refund. However, some items are excluded in the scheme, such as:

  • Plain milk containers of all sizes including plant-based milk substitutes
  • Glass containers that contained wine or pure spirits
  • Containers 1L or more that contained flavoured milk, pure fruit or vegetable juice, cask wine or cask water
  • Concentrated/undiluted cordial or syrup containers
  • Sachets above 250ml that have contained wine
  • Registered health tonics

Since Containers for Change launched in Queensland in 2018, over 3,609,597,748 containers have been returned and recycled at the depot. In December 2020, the initiative raked an astounding volume of collection in the region at six million containers per day. 



The non-profit aims to increase its beverage container recycling recovery rates by 85 percent in 2022. As of 2020, its recovery rate is at 78.8 percent.

Kenmore Container Deposit Site Backs Out

The government’s Container Refund Scheme (CRS) has been encouraging Brisbane residents to recycle in exchange for money. However, residents from the west side would need to find an alternative as the planned Kenmore container deposit site did not materialise.

To stop residents from the west side having to drive a little farther, Kenmore Rotary has stepped in with local partners to organise collection points in the Kenmore area.

Kenmore Rotary has established collection points at two locations:

  • Ewaste Connection, 98 Brookfield Rd, Kenmore Hills
  • Pullenvale Marketplace, 8 McCaskill Rd, Pullenvale

By leaving your containers at those two drop-off points, all funds raised will go to good causes as Kenmore Rotary members donate their time to raise money for worthy causes.

Before the CRS started in November 2018, Kenmore was one of the suburbs where a container deposit facility was planned. Unfortunately, the charity behind the initially proposed site did not push through with their plans when the refund initiative started. This means that the nearest container refund points are the Envirobank site at Jindalee Home Centre and Re.Turn-it site at Salvos, Sherwood.

Container Exchange, the organisation responsible for developing and running the container refund scheme in Queensland, and its operator Return-It are still looking for other solutions to cater to residents from Kenmore. They are hopeful that more deposit sites will be available once more operators get onboard.

 



Container Refund Scheme


Credit: Queensland Environment/YouTube

CRS is one of the government’s programs that promote the recycling rate in Queensland whilst reducing the amount of drink containers that are littered everywhere.

Queensland calls its container refund scheme as Containers for Change. This program provides people with an incentive to collect and return eligible containers for recycling, in exchange for a 10 cent refund payment.

Eligible containers for the container refund scheme. Photo credit: www.qld.gov.au

Eligible containers include most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and 3L. Containers that are NOT eligible for a refund include the following:

  • plain milk containers
  • glass containers which have contained wine or pure spirits
  • large containers (1L or more) which have contained flavoured milk, pure juice, cask wine or cask water
  • cordial or vegetable juice containers
  • sachets above 250ml which have contained wine
  • registered health tonics.

Take note that all containers smaller than 150mL and bigger than 3L will not be eligible for a refund.

Non-eligible containers. Photo credit: www.qld.gov.au

Read more about the container refund scheme through the Containers for Change website.