Over the past two years, 63-year-old ex-shearer Larry (not his real name) has put aside $80,000 for his retirement by taking part in South Australia's recycling scheme.
He works seven days a week, visiting sporting clubs to collect beverage containers that he then transports to one of the state's depots, where he is paid 10 cents per can and bottle.
But Larry's exploits are illegal, purely because he lives in Victoria.
Under South Australian law, a person can be fined up to $30,000 for seeking refunds on beverage containers sold outside of that state.
Similar laws are in place in New South Wales.
The Victorian Government announced it would follow the lead of these states and introduce its own container deposit scheme by 2023.
But until then, Larry remains a criminal — despite having saved thousands of tonnes of recyclables from ending up in landfill as part of Victoria's recycling crisis.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-24/earning-money-recycling-bottles-but-illegal-to-go-over-border/11994760
