The price of water, beer and well-known cola drinks is going up is it?
Well, yes and no. As of Thursday, February 1st, a new deposit and return scheme is being rolled out across Ireland. That means that we will all have to pay a deposit on top of the actual cost of the products.
How much will we have to pay?
It depends on the size of the receptacle. There will be an automatic 15 cent deposit added to bottles and cans of between 150ml and 500ml, and a 25 cent deposit added to bottles and cans of between 500ml and three litres. It will see the price of a 1.5 litre bottle of Coke jump from €3.25 to €3.50 overnight, while a 500ml bottle of Ballygowan water will climb from €1.19 to €1.34. A six-pack of the same product that costs €4 in your local Tesco today will cost €4.60 after February 1st.
Well that’s not good is it?
It very much depends on how you view the scheme. The people behind it have been very keen to stress the price of the products is not going up and that while you might pay more at the till you will be able to get the extra cost back when you return the empty receptacle making the new rules cost neutral to you.
Hmm, sounds like a lot of hassle – why are we doing this?
While you might argue with the mechanics of the scheme it is hard to argue with the reasoning that underpins it. The system is being adopted in Ireland as a result of an EU-wide single-use plastics directive that sets a recycling target for these products of 77 per cent by 2025 and then 90 per cent by 2029.
Where are we at now when it comes to recycling these things?
We are not terrible but we are not great either. We recycle about 60 per cent of these plastics so are within touching distance of the 2025 target. But just over a billion plastic bottles and 900,000-plus aluminium cans go on the market in Ireland every year so the difference between 60 per cent and 90 per cent is about 600 million. That is the number of these products that are being carelessly discarded or not recycled as efficiently.
And this will make a difference?
It will help because what was rubbish yesterday is worth money today. Not only that because the receptacles are being returned to a place of purchase rather than sent to recycling centres via your green bin, they will be separated more carefully and the quality of the recycling will be much better.
What do you mean by that?
If the quality of the recycling material is about 80 per cent today it will be 98 per cent under the new scheme. That means we should be able to recycle bottles up to seven times while aluminium cans can be recycled indefinitely.
[ Widespread support for deposit and return scheme, survey findsOpens in new window ]
So how will I get my money back?
You will simply bring back the empty, undamaged containers to one of more than 2,000 shops around the country that will be taking part in the scheme, and put them in a reverse vending machine – that’s a concept that might be unfamiliar to you now, but won’t be for long. The machine will scan the bar code and issue you with a voucher that you can then spend in the shop where you returned the bottle or can.
You say undamaged?
Yes, that’s important. You’ll have to resist the urge to crush the cans or mangle the bottles after you have finished with them to make more space in the bag you have set aside for your empties before bringing them in bulk to the shop.
Is it only shops with the fancy new machines that I can bring the bottles back to?
Smaller shops will accept returns over the counter. They will then issue a voucher by hand. Shops – including newsagents and convenience stores – that are less than 250 square meters in size can avail of an exemption from participation in the scheme.
And are these vouchers transferable between stores?
No. If you drop your bottles or cans into your local Tesco, the voucher will be for Tesco. If you do the necessary in Aldi, you get an Aldi voucher.
Can I return an own-brand Tesco bottle to an Aldi machine?
Yes, the RVMs and manual return points will accept all drinks bottles and cans, no matter where they are purchased in Ireland, with the Re-turn Logo.
What about cans from multipacks with no barcodes?
All new multipacks included in the scheme will have individual barcodes and feature the Re-turn logo and will therefore have a deposit which is fully refunded when returned.
Is there a maximum amount of recyclables that can be returned at a time?
No, there is no maximum number of drinks bottles or cans that you can return in one visit.
What if a bottle I have doesn’t have this logo?
There will most likely be stock on the shop shelves in the initial phase belonging to what will soon be a past era. As you won’t have paid a deposit on those containers, you should recycle them in the normal fashion.
If I don’t get round to returning the bottles or cans, can I still put them in my recycling bin?
This is what Re-turn have to say on that score. “We would ask that consumers return their plastic bottles and cans with the Re-turn logo to local participating shops and supermarkets to redeem their deposit. The separate collection of these plastic bottles and cans [by Re-turn] guarantees a high-quality recyclate material is returned and recycled, and there is no cross contamination.”
And are all drinks containers included in the scheme?
No, only drinks in PET plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans from 150ml to three litres are included. They will all feature the Re-turn logo. Among the items not included are all dairy drinks products in plastic containers or cartons. Steel and tin cans that contain foodstuffs and containers for cleaning supplies. These should continue to be disposed of in recycling bins.
What about glass?
These are not included in the scheme either.
Are schemes like this being operated in other countries?
Yes. There are many countries across the EU that operate deposit and return schemes and they have seen a significant step up in the percentage of bottles and cans being recycled as a result.
And where will the plastic that is collected actually go?
Right now it will shipped to facilities in the EU where it will be recycled but in the future the plan is to build a recycling facility closer to home A local plant needs about 15,000 tonnes of plastics each year to make it viable and the new scheme should more than meet that level – so a tendering process is coming for an indigenous plant. When it is up and running producers will be getting their product, putting it on the market, it will be recycled, and the same producers will then buy that material again.
Will the retailers profit from my deposit if I don’t return the bottles?
The short answer is no. The producers of the drink products charge the retailers the deposits and the producers then give those deposits to Re-turn. That means the retailers end up out of pocket initially. Then the retailers charge the deposits to you, the consumers. So you end up out of pocket. Then you bring the containers back to the retailers and get your money back. That means the retailers are out of pocket again. Then they get the money back from Re-turn. If you don’t bring the bottle back you end up out of pocket but the money stays with Re-turn which, it says, is a not-for-profit which means it will ultimately be used to run the scheme.
This will solve the problem of plastic will it?
No. Ultimately the problem will persist while the petrochemical industry continues making virgin plastic – and it is making more of that now than it ever has. But by placing a value of plastic bottles and aluminium cans, our environment should be cleaner and a bit more of the waste we generate will end up being reused.
Will bin charges be reduced as that’s what the people already have and pay for?
We asked Re-turn and were told it “can’t comment on this as we are not involved in commercial decisions made by other organisations.” We would suspect the answer is no.
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