person handing plastic bottle to another person

About us

We’re committed to building successful recycling schemes

Capabilities

Our strong capability comes from beverage industry backing, a growth mindset and specialist knowledge of Container Deposit Schemes.

We bring together functional experts from IT, Marketing, Finance and Customer Service, who are motivated every day by the opportunities to make a difference to our community and environment.

We operate in a unique way that makes us both leaders in our own business and hands-on with our partners, both as new schemes scale up and in their continuous development.

Agile and adaptable we are good at solving problems and tackling opportunities from the ground up. We work hard every day to meet the varied needs of a range of schemes and partners, helping them to increase recycling rates.

Find out more about Circular Economy Systems and our specialist recycling technology

See how our products and services drive successful Container Refund Schemes

OUR STORY

Circular Economy Systems was formed in 2017 as a joint venture between Lion and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to tackle the mounting waste crisis.

Our role is to drive a genuine circular economy for packaging. As a key enabler of large-scale Container Deposit Schemes (CDS - 10c refund for eligible containers) we have helped to increase recycling rates and diverted billions of beverage containers from landfill.

We work closely with scheme coordinators, beverage manufacturers, governments, and recycling operators to deliver end-to-end support in the development and oversight of container deposit schemes. Since we started, we have grown rapidly, establishing our headquarters in North Sydney, Australia. We have a strong culture with our people galvanised by our mission to ensure valuable materials are recycled and not wasted.

With our broad capability, knowledge and experience we are proud to build and grow highly successful recycling schemes, and we are only just getting started.

person holding phone with recycling in the background

What is the role of Container Deposit Schemes and the circular economy

The goal of Container Deposit Schemes is to incentivise mass community participation and drive supply of quality recycled materials into the market place- significantly reducing landfill and redirecting materials back into manufacturing streams. Successful container deposit schemes support the industry, community and environment by creating clean recycling streams that maximise the potential for packaging to live another life. With billions of beverage containers sold annually in Australia and a strong local manufacturing environment, this is a prime opportunity to fuel the circular economy by reducing the number of ‘new’ beverage containers that enter our environment.

What is a clean recycling stream and why is it better?

The focused collection of materials in drink containers (cans, glass, PET) means Container Deposit Schemes have minimal contamination, maximising the volume of recycled materials available to manufacturers. Materials are often split at the point of collection and each container returned passes through systems that are specifically designed to give the materials another life.

Recycling contamination is a common issue in kerbside recycling and co-mingled bins. This occurs when materials are sorted into the wrong bin, supplied in plastic bags, or when materials are not properly cleaned. Common contaminants include food waste, grease or oil. Contaminated materials often result in items intended for recycling being diverted back into landfill.

What is the difference between CES, a Scheme Coordinator and a Network Operator?

Our products and services help develop and grow recycling schemes to deliver greater efficiency, lower risk and shorter time to scale-up operations than could be achieved by individual schemes or operators alone. We partner through the full lifecycle of a recycling scheme to drive positive recycling rates.

A Scheme Co-ordinator typically holds the agreement with the relevant government or authority to run the Container Deposit Scheme over a long-term period.

A Network Operator is a critical partner in a successful Container Deposit Scheme. These businesses are experts in the collection and processing of materials. Typically they manage the refund points- including reverse vending machines, depots and the collection and processing of materials through their facilities.

Understanding global industry terminology

Like all fields, the recycling industry has its own language and terminology. Around the world Container Deposit Schemes (CDS) are also commonly known as a Bottle Bill, Deposit-Return Scheme (DRS) Deposit-Return System or Deposit-Refund System. Regardless of the many names, each is a market based initiative to add a surcharge on a product when it is purchased, and a rebate when it is returned. Importantly they are effective at reducing beverage packaging waste in favour of a more circular economy for packaging materials.

Other common terms include PRO (Producer Responsiblity Organisations), similar to Scheme Co-ordinators, these are the entities that are accountable for scheme operations and the meeting of targets.

A Consumer Refund Point (CRP) is a facility where a consumer can return their item for a refund.