The volume of cans and plastic containers recycled as part of the Government’s deposit return scheme has doubled since June with 400 million items returned since its introduction.
Consumers brought back 3.97 million containers on August 12th, according to scheme operator Re-turn, the most in a single day since the roll-out of the imitative in February.
Earlier this summer, Re-turn also introduced a new initiative, Return for Children, with the proceeds going to six national children’s charities: Barnardos Ireland; Barretstown; Childline by ISPCC; Jack and Jill; LauraLynn Children’s Hospice; and Make-a-Wish Ireland.
It provides attendees at participating events with the option to donate bottle and can deposits at designated Re-turn bins to the six children’s charities.
“It is great to see the public’s support for the scheme and the volume of drinks containers returned in the first six months rise steadily,” Re-turn chief executive Ciaran Foley said.
“By working with high-profile events like Electric Picnic, we are providing attendees an easy way to return their drinks containers, with the option of donating their deposits to a very worthy cause. Overall, recent research has found that we are also seeing a noticeable reduction in litter on the streets of Ireland as an immediate positive benefit of the scheme and we are excited to see it grow going forward.”
Some 54 million containers have been returned this month so far after 102 million in July, the busiest single month for the scheme, Re-turn said.
- Sign up for Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
