A Daily Advertiser poll found 85 per cent of respondents wanted more of the machines, where cans, bottles and cartons can be exchanged for a 10 cent refund. Almost a third of them said they don’t bother using the machines because the queues are too long. Just 3 per cent said they patiently wait their turn.

According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Wagga is in the top third of the state for using the government’s “return and earn” scheme, putting almost 4.8 million containers through the machines, outpacing parts of Sydney. But those numbers have come with a cost, with long lines often seen at the machines.

Despite the obvious popularity, the EPA was evasive when asked if Wagga would get more reverse vending machines.

“Collection points and reverse vending machines continue to roll out across the state,” a spokeswoman said and when pushed, added: “Potentially… although it’s a decision for (operators) Tomra Cleanaway.”

Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire said he was very supportive of having more machines for the community to return and earn with.

“I have made an approach to (Environment) Minister Gabriel Upton about more machines for Wagga, to cater for its demand,” Mr Maguire said.

“The community should have their say on where they are located.”

Part of the NSW government’s effort to reduce litter, the recycling scheme rolled out just as the world was facing a recycling crush. Most of the world’s recyclable material used to be sent to China, but the communist state’s sweeping crackdown on waste saw prices for cans, bottles and paper plummet. 

The EPA spokeswoman said the return and earn scheme was less likely to be hit by China’s “National Sword” policy.

“The design of the return and earn scheme in NSW ensures high quality recyclables, with low levels of contamination entering the recycling stream,” she said.

“It is expected that the China recycling ban will have less of an impact on product collected through return and earn collection points due to the product quality.

“The network operator Tomra Cleanaway is obligated to ensure each container collected via the return and earn scheme is recycled.”