Deposit return scheme (recycling)

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121993675#Comment_121993675

Yep, there were other reasonable alternatives that could have been tried and that would have worked in conjunction with the existing recycling collection. More bins on streets, at scenic areas like beaches and forest carparks should have been the first call. The trouble with that is that it requires work to empty them and the authorities would prefer to just force some other system on the public to make up for their basic shortcomings.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994864#Comment_121994864

Well since the bin collection went private I noticed less and less public bins on the streets in Dublin - seems at least for Dublin they do no want anything to do with rubbish

And the bins that still exist are stuffed to the brim with household rubbish

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994711#Comment_121994711

I don't think the current machines could be adapted but maybe someone else knows for sure.

If the option was allowed for in the Re-turn system perhaps newer machines coming on line would accommodate it.

cnocbui

The Irish Times has an article about this wretched scheme:

‘I’m thoroughly fed up’: The struggle to find a working deposit return scheme machine

at the time of writing well over 16 million containers had been returned
and that does indeed sound like a lot. But given that the scheme is
close to 50 days old and more than five million qualifying receptacles
are sold each day in Ireland, there must be a whole lot of people who
are still discarding the bottles and cans despite having paid the
deposit on them. Or maybe, like Eimear, they just can’t find a way to
get their money back.

Really going well; 6.4% return rate. The EU will be happy with our recycling figures now. /s

What an effing disaster. Sure to be huge vote winner.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995139#Comment_121995139

And considering the novelty of it you would expect more people to be trying it at the start.
Until the reality sets in that most of the machines are constantly out of order and your back off home with your bag of cans or paying for another bag since the one you were going to use for your shopping is still full of cans

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121994889#Comment_121994889

That's because many are charged per collection, bins only go out when full.

Muahahaha

Another attempt at using these machines yesterday and both screens said 'needs staff attention'. Brought it to the staff attention at the checkout in Aldi to be met by a shrug saying theres nothing she can do.

Absolute waste of my fcuking time and money, how many times do I need to show up with these cans to get back the money Ive already paid?

Doctors room ghost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997815#Comment_121997815

it’s the biggest load of sh1te that was ever thought of. A rush of sh1t to the brain and the rest of us have to suffer a half baked plan. Same happened my wife. She brought cans with her to Aldi. Machine out of order and she had to bring the fcukin cans around shopping and home again.

It should all be scrapped again and forget the whole fcukin thing

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997815#Comment_121997815

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997850#Comment_121997850

Aldi and Lidl both have no customer service desk or spare floor staff to deal with queries.

Usually you will only see shelf packers and checkout operators.

The checkout operators have their hands full and the stackers seem slow to help though they can contact supervisors remotely.

The number of bad reports from these shops reflects this.

Leroy42

And that should have been considered when rolling it out. What incentives were given to the retailers to get this rolled out? It is actually in the interests of the retailer to not get involved or have the machines working as that involves them giving back the money they took on deposits. Why would they bother getting involved?

From Lidls POV, what is the point of paying staff in their shop to spend time fixing these issues? None. Just ignore it and have staff concentrate on the Lidl business.

The lack of management of, what are really pretty obvious potential issues, is staggering. Not having Apple pay or the like for an immediate refund is beyond crazy. Introducing a system to reduce waste with printed receipts?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997935#Comment_121997935

They get 2.2 cents I think per item redeemed in their RVM… so if it is a retailer taking in a lot of items, there is that benefit.

But that would require the staff, setup etc to keep the machines operational which seems like more hassle for them.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997935#Comment_121997935

Sure we're over half way through the trial period. You'd think these obvious problems would be getting the required attention before all deposit loaded stock is on shelves by June 1st. The fact this is not happening shows anyone who actually wants to know what the focus of this scheme is. Here's a clue: its not the environment.

LambshankRedemption

The RVM machines I used before, about 10 years ago, had no screen. Just a couple of red and green lights. Also, no barcode reading. The only error I saw was the red flashing light indicating it is full.

As Ive said before, any time we introduce something new in this country we go with the over engineered version. We know its going to be decades before we introduce anything else so we have to go for the one with all the bells and whistles.

Doctors room ghost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997880#Comment_121997880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997880#Comment_121997880

It hasn’t got anything to do with the staff in Aldi or Lidl though nor should it.
I have always found the staff in them shops absolutely brilliant. They are most helpful and they work flat out all day. They haven’t the time to be sh1te hawking around with a Mickey Mouse of a machine that’s not their responsibility.
from start to finish this whole saga is a pure farce.
half baked and a quarter executed.It should be scrapped and go back to putting clean recycling in the fcukin recycling bin at home instead of being held to financial ransom and having to traipse around the country trying to return waste in order to get your own money back and all that it entails.
It would fcukin sicken you

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998087#Comment_121998087

I have been involved in the designing and building of resilient systems in the past. Most people use such systems all the time. Very few ever have a warning on the screen saying "Out of order / Contact a member of staff". If something is not working, it simply switches off, resets all the moving parts to its default position, and then starts up again.

I could build an RVM out of lego that was more resilient than the ones they have decided to go with.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998087#Comment_121998087

I agree they are nice people for the most part but their employers business model doesn't seem to allow for sorting out faulty machines.

Leroy42

What is the point of the barcode scanning? Within a few months the vast majority of any cans/bottles will have been purchased with a deposit so the barcode is redundant is it not?

And why the need to be kept in shape? Surely a return is a return?

This seems massively over engineered

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998165#Comment_121998165

Possibly due to the border with NI.

The shape thing is so the barcode can be read

L1011

The shape thing is not really much of a problem except it seems on some small bottles; or maybe there's wildly finicking machines.

I've put through some very mangled cans - some I crushed and had to bend back cause I remembered they had deposits - and they were fine.

StrawbsM

my car has started to smell like a brewery. 5 attempts at returning cans and 5 times I’ve had to put the bag back in the boot.

What will it be like in the height of summer when the wasps are swarming?

Rigor Mortis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998165#Comment_121998165

The barcode is the main proof to the machine that the can/bottle is in the scope of the scheme. For high volume lines like coke cans there will be separate barcodes for ROI and NI stock. If you didnt have the barcodes the scope for fraud would be major.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121998165#Comment_121998165

Barcodes are needed because the till reads the barcode and knows what to charge then the RVM reads the same barcode and knows what to return

If you didn't have barcodes you'd have to charge a deposit and return it by the weight of the material and that then gets very complicated with the only real benefit of being able to crush the products

KaneToad

Was in Lidl today with a bag full of recycling. Machine stopped working after a few bottles so moved to other one, same thing happened.

Coincidentally, there was a staff member in the vicinity. He was extremely gruff when I told him. He told me, tersely, to "read the instructions". It was at that stage I noticed a printed out A4 page stuck on the front of the machine. These instructions were supplementary to the other instructions printed on the actual machine!

Anyways these additional instructions tell you to take the tops off all bottles. Surprised that this was necessary. So this means that I now have to recycle the tops separately?? I guess the machines can't compact them with the lids on.

TLDR: Lidl staff not very happy to deal with you about machines.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121999244#Comment_121999244

And then the clowns running the system tell you that you can leave the tops on and actually encourage it...

"You can return your empty, undamaged plastic bottle with or without the lid. We recommend returning bottles with caps, because this will ensure that the cap is recycled, too. Also, if the bottle cap is still on, it is easier to preserve the shape of the bottle."

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121999290#Comment_121999290

We're getting mixed messages about bottle caps putting shyite RVMs out of order. Meanwhile in Australia:

We could have created a similar scheme instead of a money grabbing shambles.

Mimikyu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121999244#Comment_121999244

I read recently there is a new EU law coming in that requires the lids to be attached to the bottles, and I’ve noticed Coke have already implemented this. Seems odd the Lidl machines can’t cope with lids if this is going to be standard.

I have to say I find the scheme a pain. I haven’t had any problems with the machines in my local Aldi being out of order yet, but I’ve gone from having a small crate in my utility room to collect glass jars to bring to the bottle bank and putting all other recycling material in my green bin to being barely able to move with cans and plastic bottles now added to the mix.

fabsoul

I was great at recycling for the last 15 years plus in blue bins and black bins. Now I don't give a dam about any of it. Because of this new bull **** I'm paying twice now. And it doesn't suit me at the moment. To bring back bottles I will burn them now

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121999290#Comment_121999290

Lidl are the ones making stuff up here. You leave the tops on, indeed the tops aren't meant to be removable from any bottles across the EU within a few months.

StrawbsM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121999720#Comment_121999720

The shop assistants at my local village shop said the same thing about caps yesterday. There is a small machine there and it’s not been in a month yet and has been out of action for most of that time. They’re fed up having to talk about it already.

bigroad

So the shops get 2.2 cent per item and they have to have the machine on site.and I suppose they have to pay for the electricity for them too.

Then someone has to empty them and who brings to the waste depot.

This half arsed scheme is causing a lot more pollution and generally wasting peoples time and money.