Over the weekend, a record-breaking figure of over three million beverage containers were returned to outlets across the state under the deposit return scheme. This indicates increased adoption of the contentious scheme among customers, according to the programme operator. The total containers collected since the kick-off of the scheme in February has exceeded 100 million. Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-Turn, appreciated the substantial backing from Irish consumers and the consistent increase in participation each week.
He mentioned that the initial months of the scheme were centred around steady progress, which is precisely what they’ve been accomplishing. He added that the return rates are increasing weekly, with millions of bottles and cans being returned daily. The scheme involves clients placing a refundable deposit on bottles and cans at stores and supermarkets and receiving a credit upon returning the container to a reverse vending machine.
The reverse-vending machine provides the customer with a credit receipt, which is accepted by the outlet, and they can either get a cash refund or use the receipt against their shopping bill. Since the start of May, the average daily return rate has risen to over 2.37 million plastic bottles and cans, which is a significant increase from the inaugural month when only two million beverage containers were returned. The past weekend witnessed four times more returns than the entire initial month.
Re-Turn observed this increasing trend emphasises not only public commitment to recycling but also the ongoing growth and success of the scheme. While Re-Turn sells an average of five million qualifying containers daily throughout the year, the company stated this figure does not correspond with the actual sales pattern of beverage containers.
According to Re-Turn, sales are significantly affected during peak periods such as Christmas and summer. It also noted that the method does not consider the volume of non-deposit stock sold by retailers during the transition phase until the end of May. They admitted to complaints about the poor performance of some machines in the early weeks of the scheme, but assured the issues have been addressed and reliability has considerably improved.