In the picturesque suburbs of Sydney, a surprising trend is emerging among the over-50s demographic. It’s not a new fitness craze or a digital detox challenge, but something far more pragmatic: fossicking through recycling bins to find a financial lifeline.
Collecting bottles and cans for small cash refunds has become a routine for some senior residents. This isn’t a hobby or a pastime—it’s a necessity driven by the need to supplement meagre pensions in the face of rising living costs.
Take the story of Liz, a 79-year-old retiree, for example. She peers into the yellow-lidded recycling bins scattered around Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Each bin represents a potential treasure trove, with empty cans and bottles translating into a 10 cent refund through New South Wales’ Return and Earn scheme.
Alongside her friend Julie, 63, Liz spends around 20 hours a week on this unconventional quest.
The duo, equipped with gloves and bags, meticulously sort through each bin’s contents, braving the elements and the occasional unpleasant surprise. Their efforts are not in vain; a good haul rewards them $40.10 from three hours of work, a significant boost to their weekly budget. One morning last week, they made $80.
Liz, originally from northern England, found herself in this unexpected retirement activity after losing her job during the pandemic lockdowns. Refusing to rely on food banks, she turned to ‘hunting’ drink containers as a means of survival.
‘I like it, I enjoy it, but never in a million years did I think I’d be doing this,’ she shared.
‘It keeps me active, it pays for my dog’s food—and my food—and my petrol. As a pensioner, you can’t afford petrol.’
A few streets away lives Ricky, a 65-year-old originally from Switzerland. With the clinking of bottles and the rattle of her shopping trolley, she navigates the leafy roads of Bondi.
What began as a way to stay busy after job loss has turned into a thrice-weekly endeavour. Ricky has upgraded from a simple set of bags to a supermarket trolley and double-layered gloves, overcoming the initial embarrassment for the sake of necessity.
‘Every yellow lid is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get in there,’ Ricky muses, highlighting the unpredictability of her finds.
Despite the occasional hazards and the need to sift through refuse, she finds the work rewarding and, surprisingly, addictive. Ricky manages to make around $150 a week, a sum that helps her get by.
This growing cohort of senior bottle hunters, often women, is a testament to the resilience and resourcefulness of those facing financial hardship. Liz, Julie, and Ricky are not alone; they are part of a community of 50-, 60-, and 70-year-olds who have turned to this activity out of necessity.
Since its inception in 2017, the Return and Earn scheme has seen more than $1.3 billion in refunds issued, with a record 10.3 million containers returned on a single day in December.
The scheme is popular among all age groups, but it’s the older Australians who are increasingly relying on it to make ends meet.
Liz, who once dreamed of a comfortable retirement in Queensland with her late husband, now finds herself in a reality she never imagined. She avoids hunting in her neighbourhood, not wanting her neighbours to see her rifling through bins, a task she feels her husband would have deemed beneath them.
‘He would turn over in his grave if he saw me going through the bins. He’d think it is below me. But, that’s life. That’s the way things are,’ she said.
This story of Sydney’s retirees is a stark reminder of the challenges faced by some of older Australians in today’s economy.
What are your thoughts on the Return and Earn scheme, and do you think more should be done to support our older citizens? Share your stories and opinions with the YourLifeChoices community in the comments below.
Also read: From common to controversial: Are Australians overdoing this trend?
Floralyn, you have misspelled “meagre” in the following sentence.
Can you please correct it? Thank you.
” This isn’t a hobby or a pastime—it’s a necessity driven by the need to supplement meager pensions in the face of rising living costs.”
This has been corrected. Thank you, Rod63, for pointing it out.
This is more of a testament to the sorry plight of so many retired people – they are being reduced to fossickers who sift through garbage cans. How degrading it is, how degraded people would fell when they know their friends, neighbours and others see them sifting through garbage bins. I wonder how long it will be before we see retired people sneaking into landfills to search for anything of use or of value? On the one hand we are a wealthy society and on the other we have increasing rates of poverty as in third world countries. What a sorry state for Australian citizens to be in. We should all be crying for our country.