Volunteers help Woodfordia convert containers into conservation

Woodfordia, a not-for-profit, community-driven organisation that hosts the Woodford Folk Festival, is converting waste into trees thanks to dedicated volunteers at the Festival collecting 10-cent beverage containers to fund the site’s conservation.

The Woodford Folk Festival is an annual music and cultural festival held near the semi-rural town of Woodford, 72 km north of Brisbane. It is one of the biggest annual cultural events of its type in Australia with approximately 125,000 patrons attending the festival every year.

Since 2022, the Woodford Folk Festival has returned more than 220,000 beverage containers through Containers for Change, with dedicated collection bins set up throughout the festival and processed by Express Recycling at their Burpengary operating depot.

The 2024-25 festival resulted in a record collection of nearly 90,000 containers.

Woodfordia Site Manager Chris Shervey said the $22,000 raised in the past three years through the 10-cent refund was reinvested back into preserving the natural environment of the festival grounds.

Shervey advised “we have a monthly Treehuggers and conservatree meet-up on site and we use the funds raised to buy mulch, trees, plants and ferns to support our incredible volunteers.

“Our ability to divert waste streams is getting better every year, with over 110 volunteers working in our ‘Garbology’ department alone during the Woodford Folk Festival.

“We also have a subdepartment called the ‘Container Reclaimers’ whose job is to fish eligible containers out of the yellow-lidded recycling bins so we can claim the 10-cent refund.

“We are really committed to diverting as much waste away from landfill as we can as our experience tells us that commercial quantities of recycling can inevitably end up in landfill due to contamination.”

Natalie Roach, Chief Executive of Container Exchange, the not-for-profit organisation that runs Containers for Change, said businesses and events across Queensland were reclaiming costs by setting up dedicated container collection methods.

Roach explained “more than two in three eligible beverage containers sold in Queensland are returned through the Containers for Change scheme.

“Most of the containers that are not recycled through the scheme are consumed out of home at places like events, work, schools, public spaces, hospitality venues and retail venues.

“It’s thanks to business-operator partnerships like the one between Woodfordia and Express Recycling that we can ensure no container goes to waste, while also putting more 10-cent refunds back into Queensland communities.”

Express Recycling co-owner Josie Lawrence said they have partnered with a number of businesses and organisations across southeast Queensland from Currumbin to Hervey Bay, including upcoming events such as the Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival, Pacific Airshow Gold Coast, Red Hot Summer Tour, Noosa Festival of Surf, and Relish Food and Wine Festival.

Lawrence shared “our motto is ‘Small change, Big difference’ and this also applies when we’re dealing with our commercial clients — there sometimes only needs to be a ‘small change’ in structure or the way things are set up to have a ‘big difference’ in a positive change and outcome.

“Express is very fortunate and proud to be working with some truly wonderful business, organisations, schools, and community events. These groups are contributing to a real positive change in our communities and are making a big difference.”

Visit the Containers for Change website for more information on how to return eligible containers to earn the 10-cent refund.