SYDNEY，June 24th (People’s Daily Online) -- New vending machines have popped up around the City of Sydney and will reward Sydneysiders for depositing empty plastic bottles or cans.

The machines are joined by a giant ten-cent-piece sculpture made from around 3,000 recyclable bottles outside Customs House. The initiative is part of a call for the introduction of a national container deposit scheme as a long-term, sustainable solution to plastic pollution.

Currently 15,000 bottles and cans are littered or thrown into landfill every minute across Australia. People who deposit bottles and cans in the reverse vending machines will not only be keeping the streets and the harbour clean, they will be rewarded with a small gift or charity donation.

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said only about 42 per cent of bottles and cans are recycled annually in NSW and the City was working hard to raise that figure through a range of new initiatives.

The City’s reverse vending machines will be located on Dixon Street Mall, Haymarket and Alfred St and Circular Quay, and can hold up to 2,000 containers each before they need to be emptied. Prizes offered by the machines during the trial include entry into a draw for two tickets to Sydney New Year’s Eve Dawes Point viewing area, two-for-one food truck vouchers or a 10 cent donation to charity.

In addition to the new reverse vending machine trial, the City is implementing a range of innovative recycling initiatives, including recycling stations for batteries, light bulbs and mobile phones at libraries and service centres.