Ireland celebrates DRS success as millions of beverage containers returned within weeks of launch

26 Mar 2024 --- Ireland’s national deposit return scheme (DRS) has achieved “radical” success since its implementation on February 1, according to the country’s waste management operators. Within the first six weeks, the scheme collected over 5.6 million drink containers, with over 1 million returned over one weekend. 

The scheme, named Re-turn, reported returns of over 2 million drinks containers in February and 3.6 million in the first ten days of March. 

Travis Way, managing director at EcoVend by Reconomy, tells Packaging Insights: “Deposit Return Schemes are proven to be very effective in radically increasing recycling rates of drinks containers, so we were expecting high take up with the program in Ireland.”

“It is an exciting time as, alongside improving recycling rates, a successful rollout of DRS should create a virtuous circle in encouraging innovation within the resource management and materials sectors alongside an evolution in consumers’ attitudes toward waste.”

“Increasing and improving communication will hold the key to consolidating the initial successes and building up recycling rates even further. Additionally, as more businesses grasp some of the wider commercial opportunities to improve both customer loyalty and their own reputation, we expect to see more targeted deployment of reverse vending machines and communication campaigns.”

Hitting national targets 
Reconomy says the collection figures show that the DRS’ is growing momentum and that Ireland’s communities strongly support the recycling system. Over 1.9 million transactions have now been recorded, and over 2,300 reverse vending machines are accessible nationwide. 

The EU has set Ireland a target to separate and collect 77% of plastic beverage bottles by 2025, rising to 90% in 2029. 

The Re-turn scheme requires consumers to pay a small deposit for drinks packaging made of aluminum, plastic or glass with a capacity between 150 mL and 3 L. 

“We are delighted with the number of plastic bottles and cans being returned by consumers nationwide, and this shows support for this initiative. We’ve gone from collecting thousands of bottles a day to now bringing back hundreds of thousands,” says Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn. 

“It’s a clear sign that our efforts to encourage recycling and support Ireland’s environmental goals are resonating.”

By Louis Gore-Langton