A lack of clarity surrounding refund sites has largely left shoppers confused, with the infrastructure required lagging behind the state’s December 1 deadline for delivery. 

According to the online Return and Earn map, on December 1 just 45 reverse vending machines were ready, alongside 237 over-the-counter collection points.

That said, one of the active over-the-counter points listed on the interactive map is Junee’s Supa IGA, which still isn’t quite ready to go. 

While it’s welcome news that the Junee IGA will provide their over-the-counter collection service any day now, and our residents don’t have to travel to Wagga to get the extra cash they’re paying back, the bureaucratic hold-up has been tiresome. 

With cost-of-living rising and wages stagnant, it’s little surprise that people have been up in arms having to wear a price increase they can’t claim back without travelling at least 30 minutes away.

More announcements of new reverse-vending machine locations are flowing in by the day, with one installed in Denilquin just last Tuesday. 

It’s a huge project, and it seems to slowly be falling into place.

The Environmental Protection Authority told The Southern Cross this week that there’s likely to be one collection point for 1,000 people or more and a second site for each additional 20,000 people.

Junee is therefore unlikely to see the installation of a machine, presumably restricting residents access to the service to the IGA’s opening hours only. 

Whether customers with large volumes of containers will still need to travel to a machine is yet to be seen, as the logistics of over-the-counter collection points will differ from location to location. 

By all means, the Co-op should get a huge pat on the back for volunteering to take the service on board.

What really stinks though, is the fact a scheme which will likely have huge environmental benefit, has been drowned in the mess of poor communication by the government.

NSW should be celebrating being one of the first states to get the ball rolling and take affirmative action to reduce waste. 

Instead many of us are still scratching our heads and counting our coins as we pay for a scheme we’re still waiting to get access to.