“It started on November 1 last year and we are very close to having processed five million containers at our site – from a community point of view, it’s amazing,” he said.
One million containers were processed in the first five weeks.
“To reach five million in eight months means we’re well supported by our community, which is great,” Mr Schmidt said.
“As an organisation, we’re really proud of the fact we’re able to put money back into the local economy while both providing work for people with disabilities, and using funding from the scheme to support our organisation.”
AXIS Worx has the only automated collection depot in the Wimmera. It is undercover, heated, and has the capacity to accept large volumes of containers at a time.
“By bringing your containers here, you are contributing to ongoing employment for people with disabilities. We have trained 16 of our 39 supported employees to work in the container deposit facility, which is growing with the increased amount of deposits we’re getting,” Mr Schmidt said.
People who bring containers to the facility have a choice in taking their refund themselves via the CDS Vic West app, by bank transfer, or cheque, or they can donate the refund to a local group.
“If people have the app, we just scan you in on arrival and everything is linked – charity groups just need to register to be able to receive donations,” Mr Schmidt said.
AXIS Works is also one of many charities listed as a beneficiary – it is aiming to raise $4000 to replace the shade sail in the employee’s area. AXIS Worx’s 15-acre site on Golf Course Road, Horsham, was originally known as The Wool Factory, where 2000 sheep were housed and used to grow wool to generate money.
There are now three different enterprises at AXIS Worx – wood manufacturing; recycling e-waste; and the container deposit scheme. It employs 39 people with disabilities.
“We manufacture garden stakes from Tasmanian hardwood, and also make pallets that we supply to Gasons in Ararat – every wood heater they sell is shipped on one of our pallets,” Mr Schmidt said.
“We are also the biggest e-waste recycling centre in Western Victoria.
“We have a team of people who work across the departments within that section, dismantling the e-waste products, separating the commodities, destroying the motherboards so any private information can’t be accessed, then on-selling for recycling.”
Mr Schmidt said there were seven supported employees who have their forklift licences, with another five scheduled to get theirs next month.
AXIS Worx is open for container processing Tuesdays to Fridays, 9am until 3pm, and Saturdays, 8am until 4pm.
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