Orange's Return and Earn depot officially commissioned a third sorting machine on Friday, August 7, expanding capacity and significantly reducing processing and wait times for customers.

The new machine has been installed in response to sustained growth in local recycling volumes. Since the facility opened two-and-a-half years ago, more than 26 million containers have been processed and recycled.

But, more importantly, the extra machine also means more local jobs, says local Disability Social Enterprise Wangarang, which operates the depot.

Wangarang have been quite fortunate in that we do earn income from processing these containers," Chair of the Wangarang board, Gary Norton said at the opening on Friday.

"So Wangarang received over a million dollars in income in the last year and a half... that translates to employment. We have around eight or ten supported employees that job share up here, as well as supporting employees.

"For us, it's all about employment. This is a facility that takes us forward for decades to come. It is a linchpin to us being able to continue our employment for those that we support here."

Wangarang CEO, Chris Rawlins, said the expansion is good news not just for Orange but the wider region they support.

"We have people coming here from Lightning Ridge, from Blayney, from Cowra, from Canowindra; people travel a lot of distances to get their refunds efficiently and faster with a great service that we deliver," he said.

"This expansion means shorter queues, faster cash refunds and, most importantly, more meaningful, paid employment opportunities for people with disability... It's creating a fantastic outcome for Wangarang and it's a big part of our future."

To celebrate the expansion, every customer who receives a refund through the upgraded facility this month will automatically go into the draw to win a fully stocked bar fridge.