Aluminum can deposits have made a comeback at music festivals across the country over the past decade and some people are making the most of generous refunds.
Some of the most established Australian festivals have introduced the can refund, including Homebake, Splendour in the Grass and Peats Ridge. Cans are exchanged for $1 in cash each, or drink tokens of the same value, which some attendees resell to others for cash.
A minority of people are not going for the music or festival atmosphere but to make a bit of quick money.
Alex Henderson, 21, has collected cans between seeing bands to pay off his ticket at Splendour in the Grass and Groovin’ the Moo before but attended Homebake in Sydney three weeks ago with no intention of seeing any of the acts.
Mr Henderson and a friend arrived at 3:30pm with garbage bags and collected cans until 10pm.
”After paying for the [$110] ticket and a few things to eat we came home with $435 in cash each,” he said.
Festivals benefit from a lower fee for total waste deposited into landfill, savings made by renting fewer bins and spending less on cleaners after an event. Festivals making a public effort to reduce their carbon footprint, such as Peats Ridge, also claim they increase environmental awareness among music fans.
Making some quick cash isn’t without its risks, Mr Henderson said. ”As the day goes on, more people always cotton on and it takes longer to make the same amount of money,” he said.
”And for some reason as soon as the sun sets people stop saying you’re a legend and start calling you a scab.
”Maybe they get a bit more aggro as they get drunker. I had a few cans thrown at my head.”
Drink container deposits used to be standard at sport stadiums around the country. Youngsters in the 1930s would scour the Sydney Cricket Ground, collecting bottles to get a penny back to buy lunch.
The Victorian Environment Minister, Ryan Smith, wrote to Tony Burke, the federal Environment Minister, in September, saying that he and his counterparts in NSW and Western Australia had agreed on discussing a national approach to a container deposit scheme.
