Make a return
CDS Vic provides a 10 cent refund for every eligible drink container returned. Each bottle, can and carton that you return helps to divert valuable containers from landfill.
There are hundreds of refund points across Victoria, so look out for your local. The network has more than 600 refund points.
Get involved
In partnership with city councils, these baskets offer a new way to recycle containers on the go.
Are you a school that wants to get involved with CDS Vic? You will find lots of resources and guidance here.
Find out more about participating in Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme.
Our partners
AFL Victoria and CDS Vic have teamed up to support local football clubs across the state in raising funds and promoting sustainability. Through this exciting partnership, CDS Vic is now the Official Recycling Partner of AFL Victoria until 2027.
Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme is proud to partner with Sustainability Victoria's ResourceSmart Schools to empower Victorian schools to recycle and reduce waste.
CDS Vic is proud to announce its groundbreaking partnership with Tennis Victoria. This exciting initiative aims to reduce waste, promote recycling, and support grassroots tennis communities across the state to raise funds.
We have joined forces with Zoos Victoria for a new campaign with a big mission to protect some of our most threatened frog species by recycling your drink containers.
About us
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How international students are finding community through CDS Vic
For hundreds of international students in Geelong, moving to Australia means finding their feet in a new country — often far from family, friends and familiar support networks.
It’s why Helen Nicholls-Stary founded The Lounge: to create a place where international students could find support, meet people and feel part of a community.
Since then, The Lounge has become a place for students to share meals, join activities and information sessions, and build connections in their new home.
And now, eligible drink containers are helping support that work.
Through CDS Vic, The Lounge is turning bottles and cans into 10-cent refunds that can be reinvested into its international student community — an idea championed by The Lounge’s ambassador Dhiraj Neupane.
For Dhiraj, it was about more than finding another way to raise funds. He saw an opportunity for students to get involved, give back and build their confidence along with way.
It’s an idea that fits naturally with what Helen created The Lounge to do.
Since opening, The Lounge has engaged more than 7,500 students, providing meals, social activities, information sessions and practical support.
For program coordinator Kai, the importance of that support is something he understands firsthand.
As an international student himself, Kai knows what it’s like to arrive in a new country and build a life away from familiar support networks.
“People often assume international students come from privilege,” he says. “The reality is that many are navigating culture shock, financial pressure, loneliness and sometimes racism.”
“Having somewhere they feel welcome, where they can access support and simply spend time with other people, is incredibly important.”
As a not-for-profit, finding ways to keep that support going is always front of mind. While grants remain important, container collection gives The Lounge another option — one that allows students and the wider community to contribute themselves.
Dhiraj has become a familiar face behind the initiative, encouraging students, staff and volunteers to save their eligible containers and helping grow collections across the Waurn Ponds campus and the local Salvation Army office.
But for Dhiraj, the opportunity goes beyond fundraising.
He organises collection drives, partners with local businesses and encourages students to get involved.
For students finding their feet in a new country, those activities can become opportunities to meet people, build confidence and take on leadership roles — while raising funds to support their fellow students.
The environmental side has resonated too.
“Climate change is something we care deeply about,” Kai says. “Sometimes it feels too big for one person to make a difference. But this gives people something practical they can do.”
“Once people start collecting containers, they start thinking differently about recycling and sustainability. It builds from there.”
Container collection has become another way to do what The Lounge has always set out to do: help international students connect, contribute and feel part of the community around them.
Now, that’s a pretty good return on 10 cents.
