Re-turn has more than 700 reverse recycling points in Ireland

Re-turn, the operator of the Irish Deposit and Return Scheme, announced that over 750 million plastic bottles and cans have been returned since the launch of the Scheme on February 1, 2024. This important milestone was reached on Wednesday, November 27.

As the adoption of the Scheme increases, the network of Re-turn Deposit Return Points has also grown by over 700 since its launch. Currently, there are over 2500 Reverse Vending Machines and over 300 manual return collection points across the country.

To date, more than €83,000 has been raised for Return for Children, Re-turn’s charitable initiative, with 546,000 containers donated since the initiative’s inception 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 more than 165,000 vulnerable and seriously ill children in communities throughout Ireland.

As a circular economy initiative, Ireland’s Deposit & Return Scheme seeks to move away from a culture of “take, make and dispose” to one of returning valuable materials and keeping them in the economy for as long as possible. Through the Deposit and Return Scheme, aluminum cans can be recycled infinitely, while PET plastic bottles can be recycled multiple times, reducing the need for virgin materials. By returning beverage containers, consumers contribute to a sustainable future and ensure that the materials are recycled into new beverage containers. Since its launch, Re-turn has reported monthly growth in container returns.

By returning all beverage containers with the Re-turn logo to the deposit return points instead of placing them in the recycling garbage can, consumers ensure the separate collection of a higher quality recyclable material. By returning all beverage containers within the scope of the Scheme to the deposit return points, we are able to increase the quality of recycled material to 98%, up from 80% before the introduction of the Scheme. The Scheme continues to play a significant role in reducing waste and litter across the country.

Commenting on the progress of the Scheme and its future, Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn, said: “This important milestone reflects how widely the Scheme has been adopted by the people of Ireland and is helping to make a real difference. Just last week, Coastwatch Ireland confirmed that this year has seen the lowest average number of bottles and cans in 25 years of the marine litter survey. In addition to the environmental change, we have been particularly impressed with how the Scheme has galvanized communities to start their own initiatives using the Deposit & Return Scheme to raise funds. We are also very grateful to the consumers who have supported the Return for Children charity initiative. We look forward to seeing the additional positive effects the Scheme will have in the coming months.”