There are 2,500 active Reverse Vending Machines across the country up from 1,800 at launch
Over €83,000 has been raised to date for Return for Children, the Re-turn charity initiative with 546,000 containers donated since the initiative started in June. Return for Children directly supports six national children’s charities, Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack and Jill, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, and Make-A-Wish Ireland. Collectively, these six charities support over 165,000 vulnerable and seriously ill children in communities across Ireland.
As a circular economy initiative, Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme aims to move away from the ‘take, make and dispose’ culture to one of returning valuable materials and keeping them in the economy for as long as possible. Through the Deposit Return Scheme, aluminium cans can be recycled infinitely while PET plastic bottles can be recycled multiple times, reducing the need for the use of virgin materials. By returning drinks containers, consumers are contributing to a sustainable future and guaranteeing that materials are recycled into new drinks containers. Since its launch, Re-turn has reported month-on-month growth in container returns.
By returning all Re-turn logo drinks containers through deposit return points rather than placing them in the recycling bin, consumers are ensuring the separate collection of a higher quality recyclate. By material by returning all in-scope drinks containers to deposit return points, we can increase our recyclate quality to 98%, from 80% before the introduction of the Scheme. The Scheme is continuing to play a significant role in reducing landfill and litter around the country.
Commenting on the progress of the Scheme and its future, Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn said: “This significant milestone speaks to how widely the Scheme has been embraced by the people of Ireland and is helping to make a real difference. Only last week Coastwatch Ireland confirmed that this year has seen the lowest average bottle and can count in 25 years of the marine litter survey. As well as environmental change, we have been particularly impressed by how the Scheme has ignited communities in starting their own initiatives using the Deposit Return Scheme for fundraising. We are also very grateful to consumers who have supported the Return for Children charity initiative. We look forward to seeing the further positive effects the Scheme will have over the coming months.”
