‘Every yellow lid is like a box of chocolates’: the Sydney retirees fossicking in bins to pay the bills

Retirees Liz Lee (left) and Julie Griffin search for recyclable cans and bottles in other people’s garbage bins in Bondi, Sydney for the NSW Return and Earn scheme. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/The Guardian

Liz Lee peers into a recycling bin, laughs and slams the lid shut.

The 79-year-old has struck gold: the bin is three-quarters full of empty cans, each representing a 10 cent refund at recycling collection points. She reopens the bin and reaches in, passing each can to her friend, Julie Griffin, 63.