Northern Territory

Law Name

Environment Protection (Beverage Containers and Plastic Bags) Act 2011 [1]

Date Implemented

1/3/2012 (last amended in 2017)

Beverages Covered

Beverages ≤250mL [2]:

Wine (in plastic or sachet containers)

Beverages ≤1L:

Pure fruit/vegetable juice
Flavored milk
Water (in aseptic packs/casks)
Wine and wine-based beverages (in aseptic packs/casks)

Beverages ≤3L:

Carbonated soft drinks
Non-carbonated soft drinks
Water (all materials except aseptic packs and glass)
Wine-based beverages (all materials except aseptic packs)
Beers and ales
Spirits and spirits-based liquor (all materials except glass)
Fruit-fermented beverages

Beverages Not Covered

All containers that are ≥3L
Unflavoured milk
Concentrated fruit/vegetable juice
Health tonics
Undiluted cordials

Amount of Deposit

10¢ AUD

Reclamation System

Approved Collection Depots

Handling Fee

Collection depots may be compensated for "reasonable costs" related to handling the containers by the CDS coordinator to whom they deliver the container.

Other Fees

N/A

Unredeemed Deposits

Remains with producer/filler

Program Success

Redemption Rate	2018-2019 [3]	2019-2020 [4]	2020-2021 [5]	2021-2022 [6]	2022-2023 [7]	2023-2024 [8]
Total Return Rate	84%	80%	72%	75%	78%	82%
Aluminum	88%	77%	76%	81%	87%	95%
Liquid Paperboard	61%	60%	44%	50%	41%	44%
Glass	93%	90%	85%	99%	101%	108%
PET	78%	84%	64%	55%	58%	61%
HDPE	38%	34%	25%	30%	25%	23%
Steel/Other	60%	49%	130%	55%	27%	41%

Details

Northern Territory's container deposit scheme began January 2012, becoming the second Australian jurisdiction to do so. Under the Northern Territory legislation, every container sold in the territory must be included in a Waste Management Agreement in accordance with the CDS coordinator guidelines [PDF]. These principles, which are deliberately designed to be as flexible as possible while encouraging the system's success, are established by the Minister of the Environment, separately from the legislation.

Shortly before the legislation came into effect, the Northern Territory signed an agreement with neighboring state South Australia, the first and only other Australian state to have a container deposit law. According to a 2011 press release, "The agreement is a commitment to work towards aligning their container deposit schemes with a view to allow people to get a refund on drink containers bought in either jurisdiction." [9] The agreement also addresses the issues of minimizing border fraud and increasing recovery and recycling while reducing litter.

In order to comply with regulations, all approved containers must have one of the following markings on the label [10]:

"10c refund at collection depots/points in participating State/Territory of purchase"
"10c refund at SA/NT collection depots in State/Territory of purchase"
"10c refund at collection depots when sold in NT".