One that pisses me off is Tesco. My local often sells off their craft beers that are going out of date at MUP + deposit which is great.
Unfortunately the barcodes on the reduced stickers either aren't registered or can't be read by the machines so I have to spend ages scraping and washing the bloody things before I can return them.
First world problems I know. It's worth it for the discount 😛🤣🍻.
Local Centra does that too, with dented or dirty cans also - although sometimes they just charge MUP without the deposit which is a nice further discount.
If they don't cover the old barcode, someone will scan that and moan they didn't get the discount; cover it and you can't get the deposit back. No easy way around that and an absolute pain in the arse for the customer, although a very niche situation.
Entire DRS structure means they need to know who made the product so a generic barcode can't be done either.
I find that when getting labels off jam jars that the best method is to soak the jar for a couple of hours.
They usually slide off easily enough and any residue cleans off with a bit of white spirit.
Worth a try with the cans.
Cheers guys, I know. As I say, the reward is worth the effort 😁.
Roald DahlJan 16, 2026
Roald Dahl
Jan 16, 2026
I'm sure it's been asked before, but what happens if the machine says certain cans are not accepted? I have some soft drinks (Eastern European brand) and Carling cans from someone who brought them with them over Christmas. They all have the Re-Turn logo printed on them, but the machine doesn't recognise them.
Both the Carling and soft drinks cans in question have the Re-Turn logo included as part of their factory printing. I guess I'll just bin them.
Recycling bin, I hope?
Did you check the barcode ?
These are two of the cans. They both have the Re-Turn logo printed onto them at source.
They're not in the Re-Turn system.
You're right.
If you paid a deposit on them go back to the shop and look for a refund.
If not it's the recycling bin or the can bin at a bottle bank.
That probably wouldn't be a runner for the likes of Wicklow Wolf (in the pic) and other craft beers that use stuck-on labels which possibly could come off if soaked in hot water.
I'd say you're right.
It would only work with the barcode on the aluminium.
It's not just you.
Actually it's more a case of Dxhound never ever having a problem with machines and finds the entire system perfectly user-friendly and hassle free.
Funny that.
The court case in Scotland seems to be at an end. A sorry saga.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3l1qn3pwo
The UK plans appear to be progressing towards the introduction of DRS in October 2027. A couple of references to Ireland in the document. Wales is out of step with the rest with their intention to include glass.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10453/
The House of Lords secondary legislation committee scrutinised the draft Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024, in its December 2024 report. The committee asked the government to respond to the exclusion of glass. The government said that excluding glass was due to cost, complexity and consumer burden issues. For example, many retailers would need to increase shop storage space or retrofit to accommodate the larger reverse vending machines needed for glass. As a result, the up-front investment required from industry would increase. The government also noted that including glass would also lead to divergence of scope on the island of Ireland since the Republic of Ireland’s DRS does also not include glass.
I suspect glass is going to be added here in the medium term due to EU reusable container rules, which is going to cause uproar from retailers with still relatively new RVMs that, generally, can't have it added - they need to be big enough to have a second chamber.
Glass capable RVMs drop the glass in to a chamber where it can be sorted for actual re-use; it isn't broken for recycling. They are inherently larger.
Cheers guys, I know. As I say, the reward is worth the effort
Transformation to Human Hamster is complete.
But again, it's your own money, it's not a reward.
Maybe try reading instead of facepalming.
A bit further up.
If you want to clarify what you were trying to say, go ahead, It's not up to me.
The post I responded to is pretty clear.
You quoted 2 posts thanking posters for tips on how to remove labels blocking the deposit bar code to get the "reward". Sounds like the reward is getting the deposit back. Is it something else?
It's up to you to find out before sticking your oar in if you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm happy with the result 🍻.
Are there any more of the bulk machines going in? I know there's one in Dublin somewhere and one in Cork somewhere.
One in Mullingar and another in Roscommon also.
There's a map on the Re-turn site where you can enter your Eircode to find one near you.
Home - Re-Turn https://share.google/vc1rBBibs0rhOLNjJ
Lidl Maynooth also has one.
The new Lidl in Killorglin got one but the new Lidl in Listowel didn't. They opened within a few weeks of each other.
Not sure what the logic there is.
Wasn't this scheme being lauded for litter reduction? Polluter pays? Nope.
Will Re-turn compensate councils out of the tens of millions of euros they are sitting on?
(Dublin) city now has to bear the additional cost of between €500,000 and €1m annually for more clean-ups as a result of the Re-turn scheme.
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/bin-scavengers-in-search-of-re-turn-bottles-are-leaving-dublin-like-a-bomb-site-says-council-chief-richard-shakespeare/a750915016.html
the cost has been pushed onto the consumer. funny I was in Spain recently, no drs there.
They should be everywhere by now.
Had the "pleasure" of using a RVM in a M&S store yesterday. Model I'd never seen before, can't remember the brand but it wasn't one of the two you see everywhere (Tomra, RVM Systems)
I can tell why you don't see them much. Threw a fit about having two things on the belt unless the previous item had actually been pushed in to the vault by a flipper. Repeatedly claimed cans were the wrong material, but would take them on a second or third go, claimed that barcodes were invalid (rather than just not read), but would read them on a second or third go.
Junk. Should probably be decertified to stop any other stores buying them by mistake.
Coming in November.
Aubrey McCarthy, an independent Senator and founder of the Tiglin charity that provides social care services to marginalised people, said the language used by the Dublin City Council chief executive was “horrible” and “all wrong”.
McCarthy said people visit Tiglin’s city cenrre Lighthouse Café most evenings with bags of bottles they have collected. He said that for many marginalised people, this is the only way of “getting a few quid”.
Imagined being offended by a word but not a scam that has baked into it that marginalised people will collect rubbish.
