Lidl: 10c for used bottles and cans [Expired]

65535

I don't hold out much hope for it - Website is telling - A lack of understanding of Eircode - with Dublin 22 and then Eircode of D22 -

It should have been ALL plastic bottles and cans - similar to Germany - now you have to look for some logo or other and then bring that back to somewhere or other - meh

Grumpypants

The idea is great, it's one thing I always wondered about why we didn't have it when I see endless cans and bottles thrown around the ground.

The only issue is it is coming after minimum unit pricing that has mad drinks very expensive already. A slab of cans has gone from those Christmas deals of 24 cans of Guinness for €15 to €48. This will now push it over €51.

It would have been much easier to swallow if that was scrapped.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121297037#Comment_121297037

I drink responsibly and have to pay MUP prices because others don't drink responsibly.

I recycle responsibly and now I have to pay more upfront and put up with inconvenience to get my deposit back because others don't recycle responsibly.

Way of the world I suppose.

TheChizler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121296948#Comment_121296948

That's the correct address format, the existing Dublin postal districts weren't affected by Eircode.

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121296948#Comment_121296948

Unless I am mistaken it is the same as Germany for plastic and cans. 100ml to 3litres. All drinks bottles and cans in Ireland will have that logo on bottle shortly after launch date (allowing for clearing of old stock). It will be illegal for drinks producers to put a plastic bottle or can on the market which does not have the logo in Ireland after mid march. It will be illegal for a retailer to sell a plastic drinks bottle or can after the end of may. The first week or two of the transition will be a bit messy, after that, unless you are drinking fairly obscure stuff, the old stock will have washed through the system and essentially everything drink related will be returnable.

With the exception that glass is included in Germany. Ireland has high recycling rates of glass, so there was no need to include glass and the much higher costs that that would have brought in terms of running the scheme.

Muahahaha

Did the initial pilot scheme in Glengeary that started this thread expand to other Lidl stores? Saw one of these machines outside Lidl in Naas the other day but it had metal shutters pulled down over it and wasnt operational. Not sure if the pilot expanded or they are just getting ready for full implementation. My local Aldi has no machine but I noticed a new concrete foundation near the trollies which is presumably for the forthcoming machines.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121298117#Comment_121298117

Thats how the one in Aldi Dungarvan started (not open yet).

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121298125#Comment_121298125

ok right thanks they must be just ready for rollout in advance. But had wondered as on the Lidl app their Naas store is listed as a 'test store' for their various promotions

upinthesky

All supermarkets will have them it’s coming into law, lidl and aldi are not doing this for the environment they are doing it because they have too!

the watchman

96% of people recycle responsibly and correctly already via household collection services and the local tip.

Its a new tax.

It probably wasn't intentional but it is simply a new tax.

if you can't see that then you're probably blinded by the green agenda label .

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121300636#Comment_121300636

You may want to check your source on that %, it's in the low 60's,not the high 90's

The rest of the post is nonsense

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121300636#Comment_121300636

Firstly if you get it back its clearly not a tax. It may be an inconvenience but its not a tax. It only becomes a charge on you if you choose not to claim the money back. Thats like saying if you claim legitimate expenses from your jon that work are taxing you.

Secondly, less than 2/3rds of bottles and cans are recycled. Those that are recycled are not recycled in a dedicated waste stream meaning they tend to be contaminated and need significantly more reprocessing. Kerbside recycling has its place but it is not always the answer.

These schemes operate all over Europe and have done so for decades. They arent seen as taxes there.

the watchman

SURVEY

Just completed small survey. Road with 54 households.

48 households use waste collection companies to collect all their waste.

3 households take all their waste to the local tip.

3 households unknown .

It seems a little unfair to 'incentivise' all the above to change the way they already responsibly do the right green thing or penalise them if they don't.

Rigor Mortis

No is disputing that Ireland has a high penetration of domestic green bins. But that doesnt actually achieve anything in terms of outcomes. The plastic that comes out of this co-mingled waste stream is frequently contaminated and tends to be downcycled. By keeping it separate it can be used as food grade plastic in the future. This makes a huge impact on emissions.

Addtionally, with bottles and cans, kerbside is only one part of the story. Immediate COnsumption (buying a bottle on the go in spar etc) is a massive part of the market. Those bottles are rarely recycled in kerbside. They normally go into normal litter bins and are not always recycled. Thats if they dont end up as litter.

There is a belief that that this is about the small number of people that dont recycle. Its not, its about the fact that current recycling system doesnt work efficiently for bottles and cans. These kind of schemes have solved that problem in Germany, Norway Denmark and across Europe and in states across America for years.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314012#Comment_121314012

How does a plastic bottle in a green bin get 'contaminated' ?

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314104#Comment_121314104

A lot of what goes into a green bin is unwashed and will have traces of other products, eg yoghurt coffee detergents etc. By keeping bottles and cans separate it is easier and considerably cheaper to recycle them back to their original use. Conversely, removing the cans or bottles without lids will also improve the quality of paper and card that are left behind in the recycling bin. All of these things may seem trivial but they impact considerably on the quality of recycling and the ability to use the products again at the same food grade.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314361#Comment_121314361

Thats just a problem with the way Ireland decided to set up its green bins. No reason you can't have separate bins for aluminum, paper, plastics, cardboard and glass. Don't say it can't be done because its worked that way in plenty of areas of the UK for years.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314361#Comment_121314361

They still need to be cleaned I presume going through the new process and presumably plastic is cleanable in a way paper is not.

I don't see how the quality of the paper and card in the recycling bin will be significantly improved merely by removing plastic bottles and cans when food and drink cartons, detergent bottles etc still go in there. If these are responsible for contaminating plastic bottles in the same bin that must surely count double for paper and card.

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314395#Comment_121314395

Thats a solution. Absolutely agree. But, that will also lead to significantly higher collection costs. The furore in the UK about moving to 7 bins as was suggested by the Government to cover the materials above + food waste + garden waste + landfill/non recyclable, shows that that means is neither popular nor cheap. That system exists in a number of places in NI and its far from perfect.

Also notable, that the Uk are introducing the same system as Ireland in 2025/26 and the Irish operator is seen by many in UK Government as being the model to follow. The only significant delays to the uK system at the moment is the internicine constitutional political spat that occurred between SNP and Torys and a dispute between three of the four nations as to whether glass should be included in the scheme. That debate was never live in the Republic because we dont really have an issue with glass collection.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314443#Comment_121314443

Aren't we going to have higher collection costs because items the collection companies sold on are no longer in the green bin?

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314451#Comment_121314451

Yep, we are. But the point I was making (maybe failing to) is that moving to a 6 or 7 bin system is going to have a similar effect and probably more so. In fairness the 6 or 7 bin system has the advantage of improving all recyclates but equally will end up probably costing more. Deposit Return is simple, its proven all across the world to work and after what will probably be a fairly 'grumpy' first few weeks of transition, it normally works in the goal of achieving 90%+ recycling and more importantly, streamed recycling, within 2-3 years. Up from about 65% now. Thats been the pattern pretty much everywhere its been brought in.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314451#Comment_121314451

bin charges already going up, probably due to cost of operating. but take out a potential revenue stream for waste operators. only see prices going one way. like everything greens touch.

munsterfan2

In Tokyo, back in the 90's you had separate bins for glass, cans, burnable and unburnable waste which had to be in transparent bags and if you got it wrong it would end up back on your doorstep

Quackster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314104#Comment_121314104

You'd be surprised the amount of lovely folk in this country who put soiled nappies etc into the recycling bin. The mind boggles.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314580#Comment_121314580

A special place in heck should be reserved for that.

https://dilbert.fandom.com/wiki/Heck

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314598#Comment_121314598

Interesting (maybe not that interesting) story. I visited a can recycling facility in the UK. They take in material from the UK mainly, but also from all over Europe. They reckoned the difference in quality of material between somewhere like the UK where the recycling isnt streamed everywhere and a place with a DRS was well over 20%. Thats where the contamination comes in. That increases the costs of recycling significantly and the emissions that go with it.

To the point about everything the greens touch costs money, I think your right. I'm not a green, but the reason for this is a kind of day of reckoning that years we've either been ignoring our waste problem or dealing with it in a superficial way. I work in packaging and this programme is the only proven way to achieve the goal of getting circular use of plastic and aluminium in food or drink packaging.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314641#Comment_121314641

it was never a council run service as far as I know in donegal.

Red Silurian

I see a lot of people saying that ~60% of households already recycle the cans and bottles and others saying it's up in the ~90% territory

Do either side of this argument have viable sources they can reference?

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314732#Comment_121314732

Its not been council operated in Galway for 30+ years.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314776#Comment_121314776

I suppose arguably, it was easier for the council to manage and operate in an urban setting. In rural galway it was always a headache for the council so they offloaded it as soon as they could.