Western Australia expands DRS to include glass wine and spirit bottles

The Government of Western Australia is set to include glass wine and spirit bottles in its DRS starting July 1 2026. The government says the move will add 200 million containers a year to the scheme.

The expansion also includes plastic wine bottles, sachets and casks, fruit and vegetable juices, and flavored milk and cordial. From July 2026, the DRS will include all beverage containers from 150 mL to 3 liters.

Roger Cook, premier of Western Australia, says: “My government is committed to protecting and restoring our environment, and an important part of this is reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills. We are making recycling easier by expanding this popular program to include wine and spirit bottles.”

Cook explains that the state's DRS program, Containers for Change, has created over 840 jobs.

He adds: “Western Australians have embraced Containers for Change, saving billions of containers from landfill and generating millions of dollars for local charities and community groups.”

Community effort

Since its inception in 2020, Western Australia’s Containers for Change has collected, recycled, and diverted over 4.5 billion containers from landfills, according to the government.   

The state highlights that in the 2023-24 financial year, 39,000 metric tons of glass were collected at refund points.

Western Australia’s environment minister, Matthew Swinbourn, says: “Expanding Containers for Change to include wine and spirit bottles delivers on our continued commitment to cutting landfills and keeping valuable resources in our circular economy.”

He adds that the DRS expansion can help community groups and initiatives collect more containers and raise money through the refund scheme.  

Western Australia Return Recycle Renew, the company that operates Containers for Change, supports the announcement.

Recently, the South Australian government banned fish-shaped soy containers in the state’s latest round of single-use plastic bans to reduce marine and terrestrial pollution.