By Kathryn Magann in Sydney

IN an Australian first, Queenslanders will be paid 10 cents for empty wine and pure spirit glass containers at the states’s recycling collection points, with the government to expand the scheme on its fifth anniversary.

The Containers for Change Container Refund Scheme pays collectors to return recyclable items, with $710 million paid out to Queenslanders since it began in 2018.

Environment Minister Leanne Linard said the change came after people called for more containers to be made eligible for refunds through the program.

“Our decision to include glass wine and pure spirit bottles followed an extensive consultation period, during which more than 6600 Queenslanders shared their thoughts about including additional containers in the refund program,” she said.

Glass wine and spirit bottles ranging in size from 150 millilitres to three litres are eligible for recycling at the refund points from Wednesday.

Container exchange chief executive Natalie Roach said a new refund point was also being opened in suburban Windsor, providing more jobs.

“The opening of this new container refund point, and the nation-leading inclusion of glass wine and pure spirit bottles demonstrates that the government’s popular container refund scheme continues to go from strength to strength,” she said.

The Windsor depot would allow customers to drop off their containers and have them counted by staff, and would also offer a bag-drop service for the time-poor.

More than 7.1 billion containers have been received in Queensland since the scheme’s inception.

It is catching on in popularity as the cost of living continues to bite, with a record 1.23 billion containers returned by Queenslanders since the start of this year.

Other states have similar collection systems but are yet to extend them to wine and spirit bottles.

The first was established in SA in 1977.