Outback Animal Rescue).
The Return and Earn cans and bottles recycling program is now available to Cobar residents with the Empire Hotel collecting containers displaying the 10c refund symbol.
Empire Hotel owners Cindy and Andrew ‘Shorty’ Bryan said with an increase in alcohol prices because of the introduction of the Return and Earn NSW Container Deposit Scheme, it seemed unfair for local residents as there were no collection points for containers in Cobar where customers could recoup some of their money.
So they decided to do something about it and signed up to become a Return and Earn collection point.
“It started off yesterday and there were no hiccups,” Cindy told The Cobar Weekly on Thursday.
“It’s good to be able to give people a chance to clean up and clear out their bins of the bottles and cans.”
The Bryans have set up a shipping container at the back of the hotel and have assigned staff members (or family members) to manually receive collections from the public.
The cans and bottles are counted (there is a limit of 120 items per customer) and the customer receives a receipt for the total which they can then redeem for cash at the hotel’s bottle shop.
The cans and bottles are manually separated and bagged up with the container to be collected once a month.
Cindy said currently they have limited hours to receive cans and bottles and will see how things go to see if there is a need to extend their hours.
The Empire Hotel benefits from the scheme by collecting all the cans and bottles that are sold through the bar.
Cindy said other businesses in town that sell and collect bottles and cans are welcome to take them along to the Empire to be cashed in.
