Wheely Bins: "No 10c Recyclable Bottles/Cans Inside" Stickers

browser on 05/02/2025 - 11:36
Last edited 05/02/2025 - 14:16 by 1 other user

They actually exist, I was wondering if there's a demand and people actually make and sell this type of stickers.

https://bedrockgraphics.net.au/product/no-recycling-in-bin/

Issue is people come looking for refundable bottles the night before rubbish collection, making a mess and don't fully close the lid, and if it rains the inside of the bin is wet and stinky.

We push the bin out late, but they come later, and this is not a good solution because we forgot about the bins a couple of times and had to rush out in the morning when the truck approaches.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Archi on 05/02/2025 - 11:55
    +17

    ohhh damn.

    i thought the stickers was 10c

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:26

      It wasn't obvious, $16 for 4 is not too bad, though $5.50 postage.

      Reasonable, for large, waterproof stickers, not easily DIY-able.

      • Archi on 05/02/2025 - 13:37

        i just read

        wheelie bin # sticker for 10c

      • Dr Phil on 06/02/2025 - 07:24
        +13

        I doubt these bottle collectors will take any notice of your stickers.

      • juki on 08/02/2025 - 09:49
        +1

        why buy 4, how many bins do you own? at those prices invest in a label maker

      • boomramada on 08/02/2025 - 11:03
        +1

        What happens if someone accidentally put a 10c bottle or can in it?

  • geekcohen on 05/02/2025 - 12:08
    -5

    if it rains the inside of the bin is wet and stinky

    All bins are stinky. Are you keeping them inside?

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:09
      +7

      Rain water, moisture makes it worse.

      • geekcohen on 05/02/2025 - 12:17
        -1

        Rinse the bin out? Depending on how I am feeling, I will rinse the bin out every week, or my elderly neighbour will do it for me when they do theirs.

        But again, where are you keeping them to have to worry about the stink?

        • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:24
          +10

          But that is extra work that weren't required before.

          I only chuck dry containers, carboards, and cycle-able packages into the yellow bin, they are generally non-filthy. There is no need to raise the bin otherwise.

            • browser on 05/02/2025 - 15:03
              +8

              @geekcohen: You probably think it's nitpicking, but rinsing also involves drying, while the bin is flipped upside down to dry, you can't use it and have to make a mental note to take out the recycleables later.

              All small things, but things caused by others and can be avoid if they stop going through other people's bins.

            • Dreamcast on 08/02/2025 - 06:19

              @geekcohen: I think op needs a sticker that says "wash my bins geekcohen, as it's not a huge inconvenience"

          • Ade99 on 06/02/2025 - 07:34
            +2

            @browser: Also wonder what is going in the bin. Mine need a rinse a couple of times per decade…🤔

            • S2 on 06/02/2025 - 13:47
              +3

              @Ade99: It's literally answered in the above messages before yours.
              I don't think you are wondering what is going in the bin at all. I think you just wanted to state your bin rinsing frequency.

              • Protractor on 07/02/2025 - 11:33

                @S2: FTFY
                you just wanted to state your bin rinsing water wasting frequency

            • Mugsy on 06/02/2025 - 14:01

              @Ade99: I use to be a couple of times per decade too until we got an inside dog. If the plastic bag that wee wee pads are in ever leaks (and they do if it's at the bottom of the bin and a heavy load is put on top) then that bin will need a good hosing.

              • beach bum on 06/02/2025 - 21:57

                @Mugsy: I think keeping a dog inside the bin is a great idea , and he can lick the inside of the bin clean and roll around and dry up so two birds one rock.đź‘Ť
                Obviously I would never hurt a dog so definitely drill some air holes.

  • geekcohen on 05/02/2025 - 12:08
    +9

    Issue is people come looking for refundable bottles the night before rubbish collection

    Must be your area, I haven't seen this in my area or had any issues. I am in VIC.

    • Gdsamp on 05/02/2025 - 12:10
      +2

      Really helpful

      • jv on 05/02/2025 - 12:29
        +6

        yet true…

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:12
      +4

      It's the 1 or 2 people that do it, they can be anywhere. It's not like groups of scavengers marching the street.

      It only takes 1 person go through the bins once to create this problem.

      • geekcohen on 05/02/2025 - 12:15

        Of course. But its the first I've heard of someone doing it, but must be worth doing it. I honestly couldn't be bothered.

        • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:21
          +1

          It's a lot work collecting, then bringing them in large qualities to redeem.

          This whole return and earn thing is a huge waste of time to the consumers, but apparently a big and profitable business, think of the recycle centres they built all over, the machines, the trucks running back and forth, the maintenance of machineries, people hired to run full cycle.

          • brad1-8tsi on 05/02/2025 - 12:28
            +5

            @browser: It wasn't something the bottlers wanted. My wife was on the "work group" representing a major bottler and the industry wasn't happy about it. Extra up-front costs - her mob had to put $7m in upfront payments plus ongoing payments.

            If people didn't chuck their rubbish on the street it wouldn't have been introduced.

            • juki on 08/02/2025 - 09:51

              @brad1-8tsi: especially when europeans have less complicated and better systems to recycle more than a few select items

          • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 12:34
            +5

            @browser:

            This whole return and earn thing is a huge waste of time to the consumers

            Really? We keep our 10c items aside. When we have about 5 big bags full I drop them off on my way to Bunnings. Usually claim about $25 and if timed right takes less than 3 minutes to claim. Usually covers the cost for whatever small item I'm after at bunnings with enough change for a snag on the way out. Too easy.

            • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:56
              +7

              @MS Paint: Everything you said is a chore that weren't there before.

              Before: chuck bottle into recycle bin, the end.

              Now: keep bottles aside, accumulate 5 big bags, plan when to drop them off, hope machine is working and no queue, stand at the machine to go through 5 big bags of bottles.

              That is the best case scenario, but if the machine is not working, full, or bottlers are there, then bring 5 big bags of bottles back to car, carry them around for the rest of the day/week, or detour to the next recycle centre.

              The $25 claimed is not money earned, it's cost into the drinks. So you have to do a whole lot of work to get back your $25 under this program.

              • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 13:05
                -1

                @browser: In Victoria they have staff and machinery that do the work for you. You literally put the bags on a table and a few minutes later they give you the cash.

                The effort difference to put them in a bag or the bin is bugger all. I don't need to plan to drop them off as I do it on my way to Bunnings as per above.

                You are making harder than it actually is. A bit of forward thinking and effort instead of doom scrolling Tik Tok gives me $25 more than you. FFS

                • browser on 05/02/2025 - 13:09

                  @MS Paint: They are mostly self service machines in NSW.

                  Though some shops do over the counter collections, have not try them, but obviously need to go during business hours.

                  You are making harder than it actually is. FFS.

                  But it is all true. Harder or not, it's a new routine.

                • Ade99 on 06/02/2025 - 07:38
                  +1

                  @MS Paint: Very Victorian where if every other State spends a $1 to run the process Victoria will spend $10 to do the same thing….

                • [Deactivated] on 08/02/2025 - 15:37

                  @MS Paint: I’ve never seen a staffed bottle depot here in Melbourne, only automatic machines which don’t work for half the stuff we put in it, so end up having to take a bunch of bottles back home. Useless system.

              • tenpercent on 05/02/2025 - 14:11
                +1

                @browser: Don't forget the inconsiderate peasants who leave the machine and floor in front of the machine all sticky and stinky. Gross.

                • MS Paint on 05/02/2025 - 14:13

                  @tenpercent: Username is so close to the topic here.

                • browser on 05/02/2025 - 15:06
                  +3

                  @tenpercent: And when a bottle gets stuck on the conveyor having to reach in to grab it and inevitably touching the sticky surrounds.

                  • wombatzzz on 06/02/2025 - 08:31

                    @browser: Please tell me this is an attempt at humour? You can't be this pathetic

              • juki on 08/02/2025 - 09:51

                @browser: you omit driving around to a machine that isnt full or vandalised

              • brad1-8tsi on 09/02/2025 - 08:10

                @browser: I don't find the return process is tat big an issue these days.

                I collect the cans and bottles out of the yellow bins in my 8 unit complex and store them in milk crates (efficient vertical stacking).
                I count my R&Es at home and take them to a local OTC depot and dump them into a bin. I tell them the quantity and they pay me the money. There are no rejects. It's a 5 minute process. There's a good fruit shop 50m away and I incorporate the R&E run into a fruit & veg shop.

                My Mum collects the R&Es in the retirement village she lives at and takes a car load to a place near where she volunteers where an assistant dumps them into a hopper. You get a few rejects but it's a quick process.

                There are also machines near my place & my wife's place and there is rarely a queue or a breakdown.

                Maybe I'm too much of a "glass half full" person.

            • bamzero on 06/02/2025 - 12:19
              +2

              @MS Paint: It's not free money though. You paid more than 10c per item to fund the program. Plus your time and fuel to drive to the place, you'll always be at a loss.

              Unless of course, you're digging someone else's cans out of their bin…

              • MS Paint on 06/02/2025 - 12:45

                @bamzero: You are right. It's a reimbursement not profit. As I said above I only do it when I go to Bunnings. The sites are co-located so no extra expense.

          • geekcohen on 05/02/2025 - 12:36

            @browser:

            It's a lot work collecting, then bringing them in large qualities to redeem.

            Agree.

            This whole return and earn thing is a huge waste of time to the consumers

            Not really if you are doing it all the time from home. I have one 5 mins from home, go once a month and get $30 to $35 for the kids. Good pocket money. Those that go for one shopping bags worth is pointless.

          • simplystu on 05/02/2025 - 19:48
            +2

            @browser: some councils have this deal with a private business …

            you get a dedicated wheelie bin just for 10 cent cans … when full - you call a mobile number and they come and collect it.
            the kicker is … you only get 8.5cents per can (not the full 10 cents).

            there's a business in WA - it services roughly 6 different suburbs … was originally only started on a trial basis - but now easily been running for 4+ years.

            my GF is within one of those suburbs - I am very next suburb over … yet they would'nt service my house?
            IMO … that sort of thing should be way forward.

            [EDIT] : perhaps time to start leaning on your local council members - suggesting such ideas.

            • Trekky on 06/02/2025 - 08:48
              +1

              @simplystu: This is a good idea. I put mine in the wheelie bin. I would love to get something at least for mine, but as I don't have a car, it's a bit useless to redeem them.

              What's the company name? I'll email my council….

            • SlickMick on 06/02/2025 - 10:49

              @simplystu: I heard there is a business (must be a charity??) in SA that will provide a bin for a small fee, then collect regularly at no charge. 100% of funds are either deposited to your account or given to a charity - your choice.

          • Darude Sandstorm on 07/02/2025 - 18:15

            @browser: Check Visy.
            6th Richest person in Australia is the heir to the recycling company.
            Big money, got all the contracts, government pay them out of our taxes, infinite money glitch.

      • jv on 05/02/2025 - 12:31

        It's not like groups of scavengers marching the street.

        🤣🤣🤣

      • Hybroid on 05/02/2025 - 12:31
        +1

        There's definitely organised groups going around some areas. Physically seen them wearing high-vis gear and canvassing various streets, with a collector pickup truck roaming after them to pickup full bags.

        Fortunately they don't leave a mess in our area and I don't mind them grabbing cans from my bin. It's a fair bit of effort they're putting in.

        Having said that, if your person is sloppy, a sticker isn't going to stop them rummaging around. Just like 'no junk mail' stickers are ineffective too.

        • jv on 05/02/2025 - 12:33
          +1

          There's definitely organised groups going around some areas.

          gangs ?

        • SlickMick on 06/02/2025 - 10:53

          "no junk mail' stickers have reduced our junk mail by ~99%

          If I was collecting cans and bottles I'd prob bypass a bin indicating there is nothing there for me… depends whether you reckon someone would pay $21.50 to lie about it.

    • sharkyoz on 05/02/2025 - 12:56
      +2

      we used to have a few asians that came around and collected ali cans from bins pre-covid, but they never made a mess.
      haven't seen anyone doing it now, tho the incentive is there

  • Benoffie on 05/02/2025 - 12:27
    +3

    Still at a loss how this is an issue…

    • brad1-8tsi on 05/02/2025 - 12:30
      +1

      We have the bin bandits in our area. They don't leave a miss.

      I can't see the point of the $16 for a sticker when you can write it on with a paint marker.

      • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:37

        It's not obvious, but $16 is for 4, plus $5.50 postage.

        About $5.50 each if you can use all 4 (give 3 to neighbours), but if you only need 1, then it's $21.50.

        • kiitos on 06/02/2025 - 10:02

          It's probably intended to go on each side of the bin to make sure they see it

      • browser on 05/02/2025 - 13:04

        Actually I made this post not to promote the stickers, but to highlight the bin bandits problem is widespread enough there's a market for stickers.

        Though they may not be selling many of them. But as others mentioned, people making a mess is unlikely stop because of the sticker.

      • tenpercent on 05/02/2025 - 14:13
        +2

        Yeah but you seem to be in New Zealand.

        They don't leave a miss

        Agree with the paint marker idea. That's the ozbargain way.

  • jv on 05/02/2025 - 12:28
    +5

    Our recycle bin is full of recyclable cans and bottles.

    That is the whole point of recycling…

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:34
      +1

      Not all recycle-able bottles are refundable.

      They introduced a tariff on drinks to subsidise the return and earn program, effectively you prepaid 10 cents for certain drinks you buy. It's your choice to throw away that 10 cents. I always recycle it myself to get it back.

      So our recycle bin only contains non-refundable recycle materials, and there is no incentive to dig through to find bottles and making a mess along the way.

      • jv on 05/02/2025 - 12:36
        -1

        effectively you prepaid 10 cents for certain drinks you buy.

        we are still paying the same (if not cheaper) for the drinks at the supermarket since then, so we just throw them all in the recycle bin.

        • browser on 05/02/2025 - 12:42
          +3

          Maybe price adjustments, could be another 10 cents cheaper.

          Was incorrect to call it a tariff, but the whole scheme is funded by contributions from beverage industry, from their profit. So that 10 cents have to come from somewhere, i.e. consumers.

        • brad1-8tsi on 05/02/2025 - 17:00
          +4

          we are still paying the same (if not cheaper) for the drinks at the supermarket since then,

          I can assure you that the price increased when R&E was introduced.

          • Ade99 on 06/02/2025 - 08:21

            @brad1-8tsi: Paying $19.99 for a cube of 24 Pepsis….now paying $20 for the same size cube. This includes a price hike due to a shortage of Carbon Dioxide…🤔

            • SlickMick on 06/02/2025 - 10:58
              +1

              @Ade99: I never paid more than 50c per can before the 10c refund was introduced. I've never been able to get that price since.

            • browser on 06/02/2025 - 11:09
              -1

              @Ade99: That means it could have been $15 instead of $20. Soft drinks are cheap to make, they are high margin products and that's why supermarkets can do 30% or even 1/2 price regularly.

              While Return and Earn is a government initiative, the program is funded by the industry, it's like a levy on them for causing the bottle problem. They are profitable companies in the business of making more profit, so whatever they contribute to the program is added back to the product price.

              People can find different examples, I regularly buy spring water from Costco for convenience, also to use in coffee machine to prevent scaling. A slab of 30 bottles was $7.99, it was immediately increased to $10.99 when the program was launched in 2017.

              Besides the 10 cents refund, there are other capital and operational expenses: sites, machines, trucks, apps, labour, electricity, fuel. All these don't come from the air, nor drink makers' profit (many are listed companies with shareholders expecting to get paid twice a year), nor their executives' pay packets, so the extra costs can only come from the consumers.

              Anyway, the point of this post was to complain about bin diggers making a mess, not the price of drinks.

            • brad1-8tsi on 06/02/2025 - 14:32

              @Ade99: OK. I disregard what my wife told me. She was only Category Manager dealing with Woolies for a few years and represented a major bottler on the R&E working party. She obviously hasn't a clue.

              • bamzero on 06/02/2025 - 19:42
                +1

                @brad1-8tsi: Yep. After it was introduced in WA, a report was released on the first year effects on pricing

                The average increase for non-alcoholic beverages was 13.2c per container.
                Alcoholic beverages averaged less at 3.9c per container.

                Not sure about other states but our program was based on those and the scheme costs are said to be about the same (average of 12.82c per container) so I would assume increases were similar.

      • CaptainJack on 06/02/2025 - 12:55

        I don't get this, isn't the whole point of the recycle bin that you chuck recyclable stuff in there and it gets recycled. Why do we need to pay 10c extra and then take it to a depot to achieve the same thing. And then have people creating more rubbish by digging through bins.

        Sounds like spending a bunch of taxpayer money to achieve the same outcome.

        • Cliche Guevara on 06/02/2025 - 14:44

          My understanding it's to dissuade people from littering in public. The problem is the people who litter are probably the same people who wouldn't stoop to pick up a 10c piece. The more cynical part of me thinks it's to incentivise poor/homeless people to pick up those containers that are littered…

          • kiitos on 06/02/2025 - 22:44
            +1

            @Cliche Guevara: Yes, my understanding too, which is also why it's on containers that are more likely to be used on the go and not those used at home (eg wine bottles)?

      • TALL1one on 07/02/2025 - 10:28

        Most and I believe all recycle-able bottles are refundable. But you need to take then to over-the-counter collector stores. As I take many
        non-automatically refundable bottles & cans to over-the-counter collector stores, and they then do give me 10 cents per bottle.
        An easy example is drinks made overseas, which will likely never be collected by automatically refundable stations, but are paid out by
        over-the-counter collector stores

  • JIMB0 on 05/02/2025 - 13:28
    +4

    Put your recycling in a neighbour's bin, problem solved.

  • Archi on 05/02/2025 - 13:47
    +7

    if you don't want them going through your bin, but too lazy to take the bottles to recycle, you could just leave them in a tub or bag next to your bin, and then when you take the bins out, set the recyclables next to it, make it easy for them, then they don't mess stuff up ..

    time you spend to take an extra bag or tub out would be far less in time and effort than to clean the mess.

    just saying, why make it difficult for yourself and others, i see heaps of people in my area do this.

    move away from the me, me , me mentality

    • Boioioioi on 05/02/2025 - 14:05
      +1

      Yeah I agree. Times are tough they are just trying to get by. Help them out rather than being a dick

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 14:56
      +4

      Maybe you didn't get the context.

      There are no refundable bottles in the bin, they dig deep only to make a mess. What were "neatly" inside the bin were shoved back in a manner the lid can't be closed.

      The intent of the sticker is to let them know don't waste time, and indirectly not to make a mess.

      Also, I made this post not to promote the sticker, but to highlight it is a widespread problem enough to have a business case for such stickers.

      • pharkurnell on 05/02/2025 - 15:04
        +1

        The intent of the sticker is to let them know don't waste time, and indirectly not to make a mess.

        thats some impressive sticker… shame it wont stop them

        • DoctorCalculon on 06/02/2025 - 00:10
          +2

          It doesn't stop them.

          I made my own A3 poster, and laminated it and stuck it on using double sided 3M VHB tape. What an epic waste of time!

          I just ask my neighbour to put my recycling bin out before the truck comes.

    • SydStrand on 05/02/2025 - 15:04
      +7

      I get what the OP is asking. For example, we don't have any 10c recyclable bottles or cans in our bins, because they're already put aside and taken to work. So there's nothing valuable in my recycling bin. If someone was consistently rooting around in there and causing a mess each week that I had to clean up, it would get very annoying.

    • pscac001 on 05/02/2025 - 15:07
      +4

      This assumes there is only one person doing the searching and that OP buys bottled/canned drinks. If you're walking along the street looking for bins to search, how do you tell the difference between a bin that has refundable items in it, and one that either never had any or had a separate bag beside it that someone has already taken?

      If only there were some way you could indicate to that person that any refundable items you may have had were separated out and not placed in the bin, maybe some sort of sign, perhaps with an adhesive backing so you could attach it directly to the bin, maybe it could say something like "No 10c Recyclable Bottles/Cans Inside".

      If there are genuinely no refundable items in the bin, then surely communicating that to the people searching IS being helpful and making things easier for them.

  • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 17:10
    -2

    Well OP, at least we know you're not a part of the big picture solution.(but you are in the majority, so there's that) The whole cash for recycling thing is for those who have grown past, out of sight out of mind. For what it's worth for the rest, I just sort,store return in bulk at my own leisure with our own used containers. I help at the unload end, take my $50+ and rinse and repeats a couple months later. Nobody raids our collection recycling roadside bins because there's nothing 10c in the them.

    TLDR
    Cost of living, things have changed, bin violation is not a thing.Nose skin is still intact.

    TLDR2. Place all refundable in a box near the bin on collection day, with a sign saying free money

    • browser on 05/02/2025 - 17:41
      +8

      Not sure who's not getting the big picture.

      What used to go into the recycle bin now requires self collect and redeem, do you not realise you are not getting paid for this new routine? The $50+ you thought you are earning is your own money.

      • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 18:17

        As opposed to throwing my $50 away.Works for me.
        Then I can leave it to lazy people to eat their own grand-kids future viability.

      • Sunshines bright on 06/02/2025 - 07:25

        Not my own money but others money as we get cans and bottles from our neighbours!

      • donkcat on 06/02/2025 - 12:56

        Yes and the issue was a large % of it was ending up in landfill, littered and exported to Asian countries out of site and out of mind, very little recycling actually occurring.

    • CaptainJack on 06/02/2025 - 12:59

      I'm curious how strangers know there's no 10c stuff in there?

      • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 13:38

        Ask them?

        • CaptainJack on 06/02/2025 - 13:57
          +1

          Translation - made up statement.

          • Protractor on 06/02/2025 - 14:17

            @CaptainJack: Translation you have no idea .I'll give you hint. It requires a considerable work ethic (extinct in current generations it seems) to do it "because location".
            Besides, WFH generation would want me to bring containers to them.

  • brendanm on 05/02/2025 - 17:56
    +2

    Use a motion sensor sprinkler.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 05/02/2025 - 18:00
    -1

    Good on the recyclers / scavengers for being so pro-environment.

  • pegaxs on 05/02/2025 - 18:55
    +1

    Bin scabs don’t care. They would just look at it and think “sure, that’s what someone who put 10¢ recycling bottles in their bin would say…”

    After having my bin upended twice in a matter of week looking for loosies, I now do not put any bottles or can in there.

    InB4: Just leave them next to the bin/They’re just homeless people who need a few dollars to eat… No. And I don’t know a lot of “homeless people” that get around in Ford Rangers yelling at their kids to check the bins faster…

    • whyisave on 06/02/2025 - 20:11

      Bin scabs don’t care.

      I have seen them in local neighbourhoods, at around 4-5am in the morning of bin-collection day.

      I have personally witnessed 'them' going through council bins in beaches / parks at dusk, collecting all the bottles & cans.

      I have also seen someone with a 'special key' (a sort of notched Allen-Key), to unlock the cage that houses the public bins, near a Sydney major shopping centre, just to collect the bottles & cans.

      I knew this person was not a council worker nor authorised to open these bins, because they were not wearing any PPE-type of clothing or shoes. They were enterprising enough to do this, in broad daylight, during business hours.

      About 20 years ago, in Europe, I saw immigrants collect bottles off of park-grounds in Sweden or Finland, as we would be sitting here, picnicking, etc. They used to loiter with big plastic bags, ready to swoop on any left-behind bottle or even ask politely mid-drinking "if the bottle can be taken".

      I'm not criticizing them then overseas, nor am I doing it now here.

      It's just that desperate people will do desperate things.

  • simplystu on 05/02/2025 - 19:42

    "clear" style bins … that way ppl can see what's inside your rubbish bin without opening/digging through.

    I kid you not - during covid - some WA councils seriously considered rolling out this idea (for both recycle + non-recycle bins).

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