Deposit return scheme (recycling)

Cienciano

When you're out and about and buy a bottle of water and the expectation is you have to find a recycling machine and get a receipt and then queue up to get your 15 cent is ridiculous really.

It's bad enough having to bring your bag of uncrushed cans to get your €3.50 back. I'm surprised so many people though this would be a great idea before it started

Muahahaha

Visited the machines in Aldi over the weekend. One out of order the other working but it refused to accept two cans that came from a multipack while accepting all the rest from the same multipack. Might only be 30 cents but it annoyed me, feels like a scam that waste my time compared to just putting them in the green bin like I always did for the last 15 years. Those who did the right thing are the ones being shafted here.

This whole Re-turn nonsense has gotten me thinking about recycling in general and who is making money from it at our expense. Especially how our dry waste ends up being burnt in an incinerator in Dublin so a private US company Covanta can generate electricity from it and then make money selling that electricity back to the grid, i.e. to us.

So because of this Re-turn nonsense Ive had a lighbulb moment and have now decided that instead of sending all my waste paper and cardboard into a 'green bin' for a private company to burn I'll be burning it in my own fire instead and using the energy & heat from it for myself. I actually feel dumb for not doing this sooner but it was the introduction of this Re-turn scheme that made me realise how the government have commodified recycling for private companies. And they want us as the consumer to supply them with what they need for free in order to make money out of us. So Im opting out from here on in, if I have dry recycling that is burnable then Im going to burn it. Im no longer going to take part in their charade, if its good enough for a private company to burn it then I'll be doing likewise and not giving away an easy source of heat for free to a US multinational. And the Greens can stick that in their pipe and smoke it, Im so done with this nonsense and this Re-turn scheme has been the straw that has broken the camels back for me.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965231#Comment_121965231

Its been stated a few times on here that getting a burning barrel could actually end up being better for the environment than the current nonsense with extra trips to RVMs, RVM up time and electricity usage, extra Re-Turn lorries on the road collecting from retailers alongside existing bin lorry runs. Then as you say theres the question of what gets incinerated anyway no matter how its returned / recycled.

There have been murmurings about unclaimed deposits being used to open plastic recycling centres in Ireland.

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121964985#Comment_121964985

I'll bet the Crafty won't be €1.89 this time though.

Gregor Samsa

Had bottles from a multipack of Lucozade Sport to return at the weekend at my local Dunnes. One of two machines out of action, and a queue at the other one. Two elderly women trying desperatly to return a bag of maybe 25 bottles. Every second one was rejected, they'd try again, rejected again, they'd check for the logo, try again, rejected again, then they'd give up and put it aside to bring away (there's a "recycling bin" between the machines, but it was so stuffed full, bottles were poking out).

Eventually they just gave up and stepped aside to let other people go, and after a couple, got to my turn. Two out of four of my bottles got rejected on multiple tries, despite having the logos and being in what I though was perfect shape. I was as about to give up on them, when I realsied that the lids were sealed on them, and the bottles were ever so slightly distorted from the vacuum effect of having the last bit of drink sucked out of them. So I opened the lids, blew into them, and popped them back into the machine and they were accepted.

These bottles weren't crushed or damaged in any way - they were ever so slightly distorted from a little less air inside than their capacity. But it just shows you how sensitive at least some of the machine are to the bottle's shape. I don't know exactly what the issue was with the ones the two other women were trying, but they went home with about 12 bottles that they couldn't get their deposit back on. It's impractical to expect that we keep every single container in perfect shape

Tow

I have taken to whacking valid but rejected bottles into the machine so they are 'accepted', so to speak. There must be a scam in some shops with all tax paid bottles not being accepted. Are the staff/owners going through the rejects afterwards?

L1011

Dunnes machines seem to be absolutely crap compared to most others. Not used them myself but they make up the bulk of the reports of issues on here; and when in Dunnes today I saw the "random completely valid cans not being accepted until tried again and again" with someone there.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965322#Comment_121965322

As I say, it's only a rumour that they are even back

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965625#Comment_121965625

I think that's the Crafty Pale Ale you are referring to.

It's been available at my local Lidl all along, never missing.

Price now is €2.19.

At one stage they were selling 330ml cans off very cheap and I got a few dozen.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965045#Comment_121965045

With respect, that's an urban view. We wouldn't have been at all unusual in not having a public bin collection service. Just as we have to pay from our own pockets for water and sewage facilities. As stated above, the commercial bin collection service for waste and recyclables was a boon when it came in.

In many ways this new scheme sees a bit of a rural/ urban split too.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965231#Comment_121965231

Yes, we'd burn a good bit here - always a wee pile of cardboard bits for lighting the fire. Bigger boxes collected and if not reused, go to help the occasional bonfire - the horrors of it.

esker72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965189#Comment_121965189

You would think these machines should be at their best as they are brand new and logic says they will become worse as they get older. Those in charge of this scheme have made an absolute dog's dinner of nearly every aspect of this and at some stage somebody's going to have to make a call on it. So much money spent on machines that clearly weren't tested properly to see if they were capable of doing the one task they were built for. I don't think you can expect people to keep bringing bottles back to these machines to be met with problems. It won't be long until the few people that have given them a chance will stop bothering.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965361#Comment_121965361

How do you "whack" them ?

Maybe an enterprising employee might see a few bob to be made.

I see some posters are not giving up so easily and are going to other machines with rejects.

Floppybits

Anyone find that since the deposit return scheme has come in that they are throwing more recycling rubbish in the general waste? I have noticed I am doing that more as mainly due to the cans and plastic bottles having to separated now, it use to be any recycle waste such as the cans, plastic bottles, paper, packaging and the rest were put in the one bin and then take out to the recycle bin but now I have noticed that I am throwing more of the paper and packaging in the general bin because cans and plastic bottles have to be separated. Don't have enough room in the kitchen for a food bin, general bin, recycle bin and now the cans and bottles bin.

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965989#Comment_121965989

Yeah, I'm burning the cardboard and paper and putting plastic and food tins in general waste.

I have to buy different colour bags for different types of waste but it's not worth buying recycling bags anymore.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965669#Comment_121965669

Haven't seen it in bottles in a long time. Good price, still cheaper than the cans

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965750#Comment_121965750

When the bottle is being returned back to you, you whack it with the palm of your hand. If you do it right the bottle will fly down the shute and drop into the machine. The screen will flash red with a warning, it is like getting a goal!

yoyo

Was down in Nutgrove earlier today and noticed in Aldi both machines were out of order. In Lidl there were queues for the machine! I was quite surprised until I realized the people up front were seemingly having issues with the machine (I assume they were having issues as a staff member was constantly opening the front of the machines while others were still joining the queue). About 8 people in the queue as I was leaving, one machine was left with front cover open at that point I assume it had broken down.

I wasn't using or intending on using them, it is the first time I have observed the machines being used, and like posters are mentioning above it does seem the machines are temperamental. Just a casual observation however

kippy

Third time using the service - well attempting to use it. PET bin was full in the machine at the spot I was at.

Threw the bag back in the car to be attempted again some time.

I'd expect fifty percent of the item to be accepted this time.

A farce.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966307#Comment_121966307

If you are recycling properly then it might feel that way

If previously you were putting 50% into the waste and 50% into the recycling but now you're putting 10% into the RVM's then the difference will come from the recycling bin

So a former 50/50 Waste/Recycling split is now a 50/40/10 Waste/Recycling/RVM split but because you don't see the RVM stuff going out with your wheelie bins it feels like a 55/45 split now

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965678#Comment_121965678

As stated above, the commercial bin collection service for waste and recyclables was a boon when it came in.

Yeah definitely an Urban/Rural divide story because in the cities it effectively meant paying when you didn't before and seeing twice as many bin trucks going up along the roads

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966367#Comment_121966367

I have bags, not wheelie bins.

I was previously 80/20 Recycling/General.

Archeron

On my third attempt today, i finally got my elusive refund for a pepsi can i bought last week. Girl at till gave my total bill, so i handed the voucher to ask for it to come off the bill.

Apparently (londis) thats not possible. Deposit cannot come off a bill and must be done as a seperate transaction. I paid my bill by card and was then returned 3 x five cent coins in the transaction to redeem the voucher.

They have absolutely got to be deliberately making this as awkward as they can. In fairness, thats how they get more and more free money, so its in their financial interests we dont engage.

Edit, was a Londis, not centra

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965368#Comment_121965368

Dunnes is where I do most of my returning. Haven't had any issues other than queues

AnnieinDundrum

I’ve used machines in Dunnes and centra so far. No problems but it’s a PITA.

Are there machines in petrol stations? That would be handy… I usually have my car when I’m there, I could store the bottles in my car boot in the meantime and I wouldn’t accidentally leave it behind.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966541#Comment_121966541

Some yeah.

There's a map on their website that has a few, I've seen one in the Applegreen near my office and a Top in Donegal. I know for a fact there are locations missing off the map, the machine I use maybe 3x a week (and is apparently getting emptied pretty much daily now due to use) isn't there.

RetroEncabulator

10% in the first few months probably isn't THAT bad. We'll need to see where it's at in about 6 to 12 months.

There are significant issues with old stock vs new stock at the moment.

BoardsBottler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965025#Comment_121965025

in the 2000s there was'nt all this city bin/greyhound/panda/whatever other bin company lark. bins had some crest on them and were sorted by the council or government or whatever. Then the bin tag came in at some point, and then they just gave up and sold it off to other companies to do their own thing and charge their own rates etc.

it always felt free, despite obviously it being a paid job. it's like in uk bins are not free per say but its part of the pole tax or whatever. overhere it was part of some other tax. but as another user had pointed out, when we had to start paying for bins from other bin service providers, whatever tax we were paying previously for bins did not decrease, therefore made it feel like it was free or made no difference changing over in terms of how much in tax was still being paid.

BoardsBottler

the bin com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121965045#Comment_121965045

the bin companys should jump on this scheme instead and use it as an opertunity to promote their brand and recycling at the same time. maybe make some initiative where there's a seperate bin for depostiable containers or else people receive a discount (the deposits) off of their overall bill. even if its not exactly the full deposit, even a little something off would be nice.

i know people will say its giving away money or something, but think of it this way, the "loss" could encourage other people to jump ship and gain new customers while encouraging recycling so they get a discount, instead of the usual spammy "hire out skips, and refer a friend, give us more customers" outdated marketting lark. Also make all recycling lifts FREE!. there's a good selling point and money to be made from this if they had their thinking caps on

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966637#Comment_121966637

That sort of idea would make sense but I strongly suspect that Green Party Minister made a deal with the retailers to sew it all up and direct the business to them.