Where I am currently had no "big" shops, so I asked in the local one what the poster on the window which named them as a participant, when I queried the location of the machine I was told they were just displaying the poster and didn't have a recycle machines as only the "big" shops had those. But they were mandated to have the poster up(none of the other local shops have it)
Is this just a cop-out or the reality of the legislation?
Suggesting hiking up the levy without dealing with the other issues seems baffling to me.
There's clearly issues with the accessibility, the exemption some businesses have, and the inability to use the vouchers in other locations.
But if all you want to solve is the family doing a weekly shop in one location and returning the cans, I'm sure it's fine
Trust me, you're preaching to the choir.
The paper based system seems ridiculous to me, there should have been an app option from the start.
"Interesting that nobody has mentioned which supervalu store didn't allow the voucher at the till, you'd think that would be good information to share here."
Maybe they don't want to say where they live. The Super Valu near me has 2 RVM's, they're outside and they've been shuttered off since they went in. The re-turn.ie map says they're active. They've never been.
My local Dunnes is fairly transparent with the pricing. I bought 2x 2l Coke Zero last weekend and the SEL included the 50 cent deposit.
Coke have new labels so its handy enough to differentiate between old stock and new stock. The old ones say "Recycle me" and don't have the logo but the new ones have "Return me" and the logo. I try and make sure to pick up stock with the new labels so that I don't get overcharged and I haven't yet but your post and other posts show plenty people have been.
Makes me wonder how in God's name did we manage to introduce a new currency, the Euro without major problems.
As someone who clearly isn't a fan of how the scheme has been implemented I do generally support the idea of DRS. To me the hardest nut to crack will be the drinks on the go. Another improvement would be to increase the number of places where returns can be made. Sure if you're driving anywhere you .just chuck the bottle on the floor of the car till you get home or go shopping. But if its a nice morning and I'm walking to work I should be able to buy a bottle of water/juice etc and be able to return it to any shop on my route as I walk past rather than have to hold onto the bottle for the day or detour to a store of xyz size.
I was travelling through Heuston station yesterday for a work meeting. Lots of small retailers and all eligible for the take back exemption. I didn't purchase a drink so don't know if any of the retailers take back returns but none of them are big enough that they'd have to. Busaras, Connolly probably similar. The throughput of people these places have and full of vending machines and retailers selling drinks. There should be a facility for in such locations to return items.
Our work canteen only sells cans of soft drinks. I'm not going to hang on to an open can all day and hope that I manage to keep it in pristine condition so I've stopped buying them but another example of a place that will have a decent throughput of people and doesn't take returns.
I'd file this under your heading of solving complex problems because it would need the deposit to be treated as cash i.e. be spent anywhere rather than being linked to a specific retailer. This sop to retailers needs to go.
Could make it optional though? "Would you like a printed receipt?" as an extra question. Lots of paper being wasted here when we could have a more environmentally conscious option that would achieve the same aim.
I doubt it, the scheme is a shambles and I think people aren’t bothered with it in its current guise
Having seen the video of the bulk machine in Germany earlier on this thread can I ask why in gods name we’re not getting those kind of ones? I’d grudgingly use the scheme if it was as easy as empty a bin bag full of mixed cans and bottles and the machine sorts them out. It’s like the technology isn’t there to do it. Feeding single cans / bottles in 1 at a time is excruciating. I’ve simply cut down on buying anything in the scheme, and any that I have to buy I’ll just toss in the green bin. If I’m down 60cent a week so be it. Not dealing with this sh1tshow
Passed by the Dunnes Stores Citywest RVM the other day, which is located in the basement area of the shopping centre. (Notably, down a level and well away from the shop itself.)
Noticed there were no bins for rejected items. So I guess they're meant to be dragged back home with you, after you've gone to the effort of bringing them in the first place?
The RVM looked small too - given the population of the area now, I'd imagine they'd fill up very quickly.
Might be worth your while checking the barcode on the checker section of Re-turn website.
Apparently "too complicated for the elderly or those who don't have smart phones" 🙄
Absolutely.
Bought 2x2L of Coke in Dunnes last week.
Marked on the shelf as 2 for €5 - no mention of the deposit tax, so deliberate mispricing there.
Got charged 5.50.
Discovered today the bottles aren't returnable..
Is there any possibility of the machines giving an option to display a scannable QR code that you can use to load onto your phone? You could then scan the same codes at a checkout. It would be more convenient than keeping around lots of pieces of paper and not to mention more environmentally friendly too (which is what the scheme is meant to be about).
this has happened to me 3 times in centra (2 times in the same centra and once in another). one would assume it's as easy as scanning a "money off total order" voucher, but sadly these deposit return vouchers don't seem to be as simple, and require pressing buttons or something. it's do-able, just really slow and burdensome. i've found it much easier to get the cash for the voucher in a separate transaction which kind of defeats the whole purpose and makes it more hassle than its worth.
But if one does not have enough money to make their purchase without the voucher being included, it can be problematic. However then it may be better to cash the voucher before purchasing the shopping in that case. still feels like a nuisense though. Too inconvenient
At the end of the first month my gut feeling is that this scheme as it stands will not get us to the 90% target by 2029. There is a widespread opinion that this is simply another micro-tax, an apathetic suck it up and move on (not "yay! With a little effort I can get money back!!"). I guess this is similar to the vast majority of PAYE workers who never ever file tax returns or ever claim back medical / other expenses: much of our population seem to view tax as inevitable. Or similar to people who never bother to switch electricity provider, even when prices were extortionately high.
So, given that the government is legally signed up to, and bound by a target they may not meet, what mechanisms would be available to them to force the ratios up to 90%?
Unless I am missing something, if it looks like we won't get to 90%, then it looks like the only step will be to raise the deposit to force consumer compliance. to my mind its only a question of when that happens, not if. I am thinking 2026. We should know the trajectory by then, it will be early in to a new government term, and enough time to maybe move the dial before 2029, or if not come up with a more difficult to implement solution / negotiate more time.
I've had that checkout experience in Lidl many times in the past and long before DRS was even a thought
It's the only supermarket I've heard of with that issue and any of the ones that I've been to haven't had that issue so it's not every store
Interesting that nobody has mentioned which supervalu store didn't allow the voucher at the till, you'd think that would be good information to share here
Jaysus the calamities some people come up with...
Been keeping empty beer bottles in the kitchen for years, not washed out. Usually for a week before going to the bottle bank, but sometimes two or three.
Guess what - never a problem.
Have only seen one person use the one at our local Tesco. Otherwise it seems to be causing problems judging by the number of times the manager has been fiddling with it and phoning someone.
They've put large bin beside it presumably for bottles that don't work. Can't see how the shop is going to be happy with the increase in their recycling. And it's going to happen.
Not counting the nitwits who'll use the bin for their rubbish/recycling.🙄
they were forced to change that. they have what they are calling Hardcoded and Soft coded barcodes
the hard coded one have the logo. soft coded ones do not have the logo, this was a temp solution due to some lines being used internationally and would not be using new barcodes for the Irish. market I think Tropicana was one of them. majority of them in stores from now on will have the new logo, but since the machine was going to accept them they started charging the deposit on existing stock.
majority of lines have increased their prices with the change over , like the lucozade range has gone from 2 euro to 2.20
Energise sport range is going from 1.20 to 1.50, last year it used to 1 Euro a bottle. the Energise sport 1.75 bottles are going 2 Euro.
all supervalu's that have the machines installed are required to offer you the option of refund cash or to be used as a money off voucher, if the voucher was printed in that store. the only exception is when it comes to self service checkouts, but all manned check outs should be taken them.
best option if you want something done about it is to complain to Supervalu and they will contact the store you having the issue with.
Some Supervalus. My local one will, its also a function on the self checkout.
Supervalu is a franchise and a number of them are run really badly
So is SuperValu the only supermarket that will not accept the return vouchers at the checkout for part payment of your groceries?
I was in Lidl today. Did my shopping, then queued up, only till 1 was open and the que was quite long. So they opened till 2, the shop assistant didn't turn up, quite a bit of chatter from the assistant on till 1 and everyone looking around. The que kept getting longer. So they opened till 3 as well. Shop assistants turned up at pretty much the same time for both tills after a few minutes.
As I was leaving, I passed the RVM machines(2 of them), the manager and another assistant were dealing with some issue with the machine and had it open. This $h1++¥ scheme is adversely affecting customers and staff.
Fire in a complaint to ASAI, let us know how it goes
You'd be right to think that given that's all the advertising has focused on but no.
Some stock without logos have the barcode registered with the scheme making them eligible for return.
Speaking of false advertising, there was a piece on drivetime the other night about complaints being upheld by ASAI. Surely the re-turn ads are worth a look
You'd think, because that's what we've been told all along, but no, there's plenty of bottles/cans out there without the logo that will give you a voucher at the RVM
i thought the bottle has to have the re-turn logo on it?
How is that racist? You never singled out any race.
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