Ciaran Foley highlighted how many people on social media give out about the Re-turn scheme so we figured where better for us to turn to get a sense of what people think.
To be fair to the users of X who responded to our query about their takes on the Re-turn scheme – the perspectives were many and varied and quite nuanced.
We tended to discount the views offered by anonymous users although it is worth saying that a great many of those with handles such as LORD OF THE TRUTHSAYERS and ISPEAKTRUTHSTHEMSMHIDES were against the notion entirely.
We may as well start with John McGuirk who you might recognise as the editor of online publication Gript. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he is not a fan. “Never used it. Never will,” he says. “Recycle at home. Pay the extra cash for what it is and was always intended to be – just another tax. Is the time it takes me to lug bottles to the supermarket worth 15c to me? No. No, it is not.”
READ MORE
“We recycled all containers before the scheme so no benefit to the environment in the scheme from us,” says Barry O’Sullivan. “Tried the machines, but they are very unreliable – more importantly, like most people these days we are quite busy and often don’t have the time to stand in a queue and then deal with pushing the containers in one by one. The solution we came up with is to drop off all our containers at a charity collection point – so that’s a positive that’s come from the scheme. Of course, that’s not an option for everybody.”
Karl Brophy reckons that “online shopping and deliveries have taken a lot of vehicular journeys out of shopping. This scheme adds car journeys back in – how many is not measured. A pain is finding space to store intact containers in the house.”
He may have been thinking of someone such as Colette Mullins, who “used to recycle before the scheme and get my groceries delivered. Now I have to drive to shop to do recycling and groceries still delivered. Extra car journeys – very green initiative.”
Cllr Dermot Lacey likes the scheme but “one thing infuriates” And what is that? He is infuriated by machines that are “nearly always full or broken. When it is I no longer shop there as it seems to be sort of offered incentive but then no offer.”
Kilian Forde is pretty blunt: “I hate it, waste of time and not worth the pennies, stuff goes into recycling bin. But city centre seems cleaner as some people collect the bottles.”
Helen O’Driscoll is even blunter: “I hate it.”
Niall O’Driscoll says that although he does not use it, his children have “put lipstick on this particular pig by returning them for pocket money”.
Then there is Ger Lally, who says it is a “pain to be honest – don’t have time to queue and just use our recycle bin. See it working for families with young kids – a learning tool and incentive to get some extra pocket money.”
But while there are many critics, there are many supporters to.
“We had these machines in Sweden when I was a kid,” says Michel Jonas Nilsson. “Worked absolutely fine. It’s probably too soon to say if it’s a success or not. Give it a few years and I think people will get used to them. Same as with the tax on plastic bags in shops.”
Nuala Ní Chonghaile describes herself as a “regular beach cleaner on the very west of Ireland” and says “plastic bottles used to be commonplace and are definitely not washed up as much any more”.
“No problems,” says Kay MacKeogh. “I bring the bag of returns when I’m doing the big shop, The bins were full about twice in the last year, so I just put the bag in the car and try again next time. The deposits are fairly hefty, so I’m not going to let whoever runs the system keep my hard earned money.”
Sorcha Ní Maolcróin was initially “dubious of the benefit of the scheme but I think it has been beneficial. Discards on the street did drop off, and the little refund gratification trick still works. Even when some enterprising child decides to recycle for you, I like the incentive it offers them.”
Pat Piggot has found it “excellent. We were already recycling everything. Rare to see a discarded can or bottle now, which is brilliant. We use the return bin in local shop (never broken and couple of times it was full they emptied it). Spend the vouchers locally so win for them as well.”
“I return every bottle and can to get MY deposit back,” says Caroline Ní Bhuachalla. “I am not going to let them keep my money. I pick up discarded cans/bottles in my neighbourhood when walking the dog. So yes, it is successful in that there is an incentive for people to litter less and also to pick up litter.”
For Caroline Newell the only issue “is having to load items in one at a time. It’s crazy that they didn’t go with a multi-item return machine from Day 1, eliminate queues and much of the frustration.”
It is, says Charlie Kavanagh a “great scheme. Rewarded for recycling plastics and cans ain’t bad. Also, charities can benefit by collecting them, another plus.”
Olivia King says the scheme has turned her “into a magpie when I’m out walking. Every bottle and can comes home with me! About €150-€200 raised from litter for the community. I get the issue with the machines being inaccessible for a section of the community.”
And one more. “No complaints in our house,” says Angela Holohan. “And it’s great to see local community centres and charities using it as a much needed funding resource.”
