Deposit return scheme (recycling) - Part 2

Personally I wouldn't like to be the volunteer responsible for feeding the contents of a full bin through an RVM.

Really? I thought you loved using the machines.

Out of anyone on here I had you as a shoe in to get untold personal pleasure from emptying such a large box of litter.

Imagine the Dopamine rush?

Be like hoovering down an 8 Ball.

Or, quite the opposite.

My own GAA club considered this when those bins were first made available a few months ago, and decided against it. It would be unfair to expect somebody to sort through the bin every time it's full in order to remove all the other rubbish that would inevitably be dropped into it, and then bring all the containers to the local RVM.

However, the local soccer club has one of those bins at their grounds all right.

So, it seems that in my area anyway, the "bum lickers" are involved with that sport instead.

No that's not my way at all.

I find that little and often works for me and I have seldom attempted to return more than about 12 at a go.

Touchy. I'm guessing you're a soccer man who didn't like your anti-GAA taunt being thrown back at you.

On the other thing - and I repeat yet again - it's a target for separate collection for recycling. That makes it a direct target for separate collection, and while it's an indirect target for recycling, it's still a target.

Take the 90% figure, for example. In an ideal world, we'd achieve separate collection of 90% of containers, and recycle every single one of them. Some of course may not be recycled, due to contamination or other reasons.

But in simple terms - there's a separate collection target of 90%. You'd be aiming to recycle as close to 90% as possible. And if you aim at something, it's a target. This is simple English.

Maybe I've just been lucky but I haven't had a container that had to be given up on.

All the same a bin full would be a bridge too far for me.

Apart from the time taken there'd be the inconvenience for anyone queuing behind.

I believe that Re-turn want to hit their targets not the consumers pocket.

The targets will be the measure of their success not a cash pile.

IBAN refunds would be handy for volunteers using bulk machines.

The money could go straight into the club account.

539 is an Irish domestic barcode so I'd tend towards dodgy. If importing, you register the foreign barcode and just sticker on the logo

The weird pricing of imported Coke cans is an international thing. Cheap takeaways in Denmark sell GB Coke.

I put that barcode into the online checker and it is part of the scheme.

So it is legit

https://re-turn.shanehastings.ie/

I’m sure one could get a lot of these labels printed very cheap and use them on old bottles and cans that one was never taxed on in the first place 🧐 a nice money earner

Or stick them to loo roll inserts?

That means it'll refund, not that the overstickering is legit.

Importers register the foreign barcode and put a logo only sticker on

Sorry I didn't mean to give false info.

How does it work ?

The barcode on that is just a barcode for something registered. It doesn't mean the importer registered that actual import and paid the fees (reg fee, per can fee).

This is because the normal procedure to sell something with an "international barcode" - that is one that is also used outside ROI - is to register that barcode and pay a higher fee per (3.something cent not 2.something), and then put a sticker on of the R logo only. I get plenty of craft beer cans done this way where the importer is doing stuff by the book

Now, the only thing I'm not entirely certain of is that that barcode doesn't come up as any known product on google, so it is possible that whatever they have arranged involved getting a new Irish barcode (539 barcodes are Irish though some older Irish products still have 50 barcodes).

If someone has a can with that code, the machine will flash up what re-turn know the container to be on the screen. That may answer the question. I'm not going to print it out and put it on a can to check though!

There's another reason I'm a bit suspect about it, and that's Coca Cola Ireland are involved in re-turn and are also incredibly protective of their sole distributorship here; they would try anything to stop imports and ensuring that they can't be legally on DRS would not surprise me. It is possible that they have no ability to interfere even though.

Possibly. It just doesn't make sense when the correct approach just involves a R sticker.

Brewdog pay a premium fee to re-turn on each can they sell in to Ireland to defray any loss from people buying cans in NI and returning them down here. It's about a cent a can, the assumption is that only high volume items to begin with will have high volumes of stuff returned here; so even though there's huge amounts of UK market soft drinks and beer sold to people crossing the border, there's still vastly more sold directly here.

I suspect that can also has Dutch statiegeld and Norwegian and/or Swedish pant logos on it too? We're often put on the same packaging runs as those. Danish pant logos are much less commonly seen here.

Can of Hope I have right here, in Ireland, has one of the Norwegian or Swedish logos (they're very, very similar) on it.

You're right on the money. Money spinners dressed up as environmental initiatives are big business in Ireland.