Deposit return scheme (recycling)

ednwireland

re : all the price increases, those machines aren't paying for themselves. the cheapest ones are 11k.

Best thing is stop buying the stuff.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121848930#Comment_121848930

my completely unrepresentative sample of my lane was about 80% red bull cans. but after making a point of wondering up and down in my vis vest picking rubbish out of the hedge I haven't seen any. I think it was one person just throwing them out of a car !

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849164#Comment_121849164

Who are you?

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849727#Comment_121849727

I'm going to do my best not to buy anything that comes with a return logo.

I have a glass bottle for fresh orange juice in Lidl and I'll avoid plastic bottles and cans as much as possible. I just can't be arsed with this.

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/today-with-claire-byrne/2024/0304/1435866-today-with-claire-byrne-monday-4-march-2024/

Starts at 35:16 the talk on the return scheme

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849727#Comment_121849727

Indeed. Crazy stuff alltogether, millions upon millions spent on machines that don't do what they say they do, hundreds of thousands spent on maintainence contracts, and god know how much on poor public consultations, PR, Marketing, back end infrastructure etc etc

But look, all joe public has to is pay a deposit, bring their items back to the shop and it's a completely cost neutral scheme with a not for profit setup behind it..............

You are right - reducing consumption of items in plastic bottles and cans is the way to avoid the scheme but sure look they could have increased the costs of these items to do that without the spending of millions upon millions on the DRS infrastructure.

I will be reducing consumption of the items I've mentioned earlier so that's probably better for me and the environment.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849707#Comment_121849707

Resident RVM hero! I hope Return are paying you for your diligence in testing their systems and giving valuable feedback. You should definitely be on a retainer.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849707#Comment_121849707

So todays balls up to add to the list is inconsistency across RVMs. We must be a laughing stock. Chomping at the bit to be the best boy in the EU for green initiatives and its calamity after calamity. Your electric car will die for lack of a charge station before you find an RVM worth using.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849707#Comment_121849707

The smart way of updating machines is to give them an internet connection and have some fella in a central office press the enter key on a keyboard

So the Irish system probably needs floppy drives that are sent in the post

lisasimpson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849755#Comment_121849755

Same down our road. Oddly it's mostly red bull cans. I'm starting to think there is a meaning to them the follow a trial to something

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121849789#Comment_121849789

Just a guy on the internet, calling out your BS.

obi604

Does anybody know if the sale of bottled drinks has plummeted in the last few weeks?

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850899#Comment_121850899

Tell us what exact photos you want to see that would satisfy your request. This should be good.

Jinglejangle69

Why do the cans and bottles have to be returned undamaged only to go into the machine to be crushed and damaged?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850967#Comment_121850967

So the machine reads them as what they are and you cant put in any old thing with a barcode stuck on.

Jinglejangle69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850976#Comment_121850976

Where would you get a barcode to stick on and why would you be bothered?

BoardsBottler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850502#Comment_121850502

Thanks!

i wish it were true, sadly return are paying me nothing. If anything i'm paying myself via deposits, but thats only when the machines actually work and are taking my cans/bottles lol. with this scheme it really seems to be asking for alot for the machines to do what they're meant to do.

Every so often i'll find the odd can or two randomly left somewhere with a return logo on it, and i appreciate the free money but i think some people got the wrong idea and inherently the scheme is actually creating a more messier environment in 3 ways.

way 1) some people now feel entitled to leave cans randomly on the street/road/grass because they paid a deposit on it = somehow they paid for someone to clean it up, or they took the thing the ceo said the wrong way and are intentionally leaving out cans for others to pick up, thinking they're doing good for the environment because someone else may come along and pick it up and get paid the deposit for it. They see it as a donation to the green party in some weird way. Even some people who never used to leave cans out on the grass before are doing it now. it's almost like as if they're encouraged. like as if its okay for them to do aslong as the can remains undamaged.

way 2) now this is about the opposite people than those listed above. some people are holding onnto the cans they're drinking from, but if their can gets damaged, in their eyes there's no point in continuing to carry it around as its lost its value, so they decide to chuck it on the road or footpath.

way 3) the obvious one, machines not working or containers being rejected for whatever reason, and places with bins overflowing with recycleables or the whole dumping ground scenerio with bags filled and spilling over left near some machines.

if anything, maybe the true heros in all of this are actually the people who still choose to recycle at home and take the deposit cost hits/losses that come with it. And maybe also the people who are boycotting products with the return logo.

BoardsBottler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850612#Comment_121850612

Just when i think i've found one worth using, i get let down the next day. i'm happy as larry when the machine is gobbling down most of the contents of my bag of cans and bottles, next day or 2 later, same machine, no luck at all. pot luck really. Some seem to accept only certain shaped bottles, and others are just unpredictable entirely. its funny how they're quick to take peoples money, but so slow in giving it back, and making it difficult. i find this applies to alot of things not just the RVMs.

Re-turn have alot to answer for, and don't seem to be answering up for any of it. What must/can do public do to hold them accountable? and would it even make any difference?

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850941#Comment_121850941

Pictures of his bag of bottles, and his receipt/machine screen to show only two were accepted. Surely if he was so outraged, and came here to vent, he took a few photos to back up his point?

con747

I think some posters want the likes of KPMG or PWC to follow people as they try to return their items. It's not like you don't waste enough time having to do it only for a machine to spit them back at you, now we need photographic evidence. 🙄

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851416#Comment_121851416

The system has been copied and refined based on it's implementation of it in "insert country it works in here" - there's no reason why it wont work here - hence the disbelief at how things work in the real world with a poorly justified, planned and implemented project.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851003#Comment_121851003

Not something I've explored myself! But there were discussions up thread that if you had access to cheap printing, you could stick barcode on and get 25c back per item. Some people might even be doing this with pre-Return stock, thereby passing the sensor test.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851428#Comment_121851428

I would also argue that some of the 'refinements' such as the large exemption and lack of manual return options, are one of the reasons why it won't work as well here. If the retailers were forced to deal with manual returns, they would be kicking up murder about the scheme and the problems would be sorted pronto.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851398#Comment_121851398

Because there are no photos / videos that can provide concrete proof of what you're looking for. Both scenarios are open to manipulation. Its true for claiming all / most / no containers were accepted so whats the point of these ridiculous proof requests? When someone did provide photo proof of signage in a SuperValu there were howls of "photoshopping". 🤣

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851003#Comment_121851003

I've had multiple friends send me a link to a barcode generating app on the Google store. All they have to do is put in the numbers and it generates the barcode, they print it out in work and stick it on the old bottle/can. You'd be surprised what joy some grown men get from from messing with 'the system'. Seems like a complete waste of time to me.

BoardsBottler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851713#Comment_121851713

i must ask, if it works and can be done cost-effectively, why would it be a complete waste of time? the only scenarios i can see it being a complete waste of time is if its not cost effective, or if the machines magically updated overnight to not accept any of these after putting time into printing out stickers and placing them.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851733#Comment_121851733

It might not be a waste of time for you but a complete waste of time for these lads who earn good money. They're using it on old cans/bottles from the office vending machine. They have to

1) Get a barcode from a in-scope can/bottle that works

2) Generate the barcode

3) Print out the barcode and stick it on to the old can/bottle

4) Walk around the the RVM to return it

The time and effort they're putting into it for tiny amounts of money make it a complete waste of time for them. They're only doing it so they can say they've done it.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851759#Comment_121851759

I guess 'a waste of time .... tiny amounts of money' is subjective. If they are doing it on their own time for €5 an hour or whatever profit, and the alternative is that they would just be sat in front of the TV of an evening earning €0 per hour....which is better use of free time? Personally I wouldn't do it, but wouldn't necessarily criticise anyone who does.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851908#Comment_121851908

They're not doing it of an evening, they're doing it at the end of their lunch break for approx 90c a day. These are lads on good wages who work at a MNC. 15 minutes at the end of my lunchbreak for 90c, I value my time a bit more than that tbh.

Me: Seems like a complete waste of time to me.

You: Personally I wouldn't do it.

But I'm criticising any you're not. Strange.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121851965#Comment_121851965

In fairness you hadn't said that it was 90c they were doing it for. From your previous post (#2460) it genuinely sounded a bit more streamlined/organised than that. 90c is clearly laughable.

If the hourly was better I wouldn't criticise as I'm conscious I played online poker every evening from about 2007 to 2014 and my hourly profit was about €4. Way less than my 9-5 wages and slagged off by my colleagues who were watching Eastenders/Corrie at €0 per hour. And I know people who run home businesses after work (candles/Tshirts sort of stuff) which make them miniscule profits but they still see it as extra income and something they enjoy.

So in general if picking returnable cans in the estate/park or printing barcodes generated even a small profit I wouldn't necessarily see it as a complete waste of your 'free' time, regardless of your salary. But not for 90c.