Lidl: 10c for used bottles and cans [Expired]

How is it improving it for me? I live 10 miles from the nearest drop off point, I already use my recycle bin to the max I can. So it will take me nearly an hour to go to drop off and scan all my recycling now and use up more diesel in the process. How is that better for the environment than what I am already doing?

My problem is having to have a computer system to do something as simple as recycling a metal can.

It puts me in mind of this

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I'm sure you are one of the do gooders that have everything as it is also. Carry on as you are.

When you say "carry on as you are" you are suggesting that someone should accept loosing the deposit on every can and plastic bottle they buy.

That could add up to quite a lot over time.

It's Hobson's Choice.

You either comply or lose money.

We had this exact system, but with slower, fiddlier manual returns, until the 70s and some countries never got rid of it.

Most of my beer is bought from two Irish breweries, one of which is down the road from me - a Dutch/German style crate and bottle return system for those would be ideal and massively reduce waste

How kind of you to ask, I keep the very few of them I use to bring to a return point a few times a year. Not sure how that has anything to do with the new process being forced upon certain people who already recycle responsibly though.

There should be no surprise. This is what government does - apply pressure to change the public's behaviour to what it thinks it should be. As usual though, there may be unintended consequences.

In my case, I do use quite a few aluminium cans. Without exception, these go into my recycling bin. I generally choose to buy cans rather than bottles/jars, because it's handier - I don't want to be storing or carrying glass around until it's convenient to visit a bottle bank. Whereas my recycle bin is right outside my door.

With these new rules, bottles/jars will become handier. Both need to be brought somewhere but with glass there's no extra outlay at purchase time, no dealing with machines or credit vouchers. And if some of all my jars find their way into my general waste because I'm not likely to be visiting the bottle bank for the moment, so be it.

Is that better or worse? I'm not sure. I would have guessed aluminium is lighter and more efficient to manufacture/transport, and easier to recycle. But I don't know. Surely I won't be alone in my response.

Of course the obvious "all stick no carrot" response would be to start applying deposits/levies to everything. But then there'd be even more unintended consequences.

While I do see certain areas being repeatedly strewn with litter, I've not noticed cans being the problem. I do see the odd discarded beer can, but what I see is mostly from take-aways, cigarette butts, etc.

A report from the Litter Monitoring Body in 2020 shows that alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage cans together constitute 2.5% of litter in Ireland, so creating additional this additional inconvenience for the public is not going to have much affect on street litter. Especially if the result is discarded bottles instead of cans. Not to mention the danger of broken glass on the streets.

just got a letter yesterday. bin lifts are going to cost me about 30% more next year.

2l bottles make up a tiny proportion of sales compared to multipack cans and single bottle and can sales. Ireland is very diffrent to Europe in that regard.

On the earlier point about alcohol bottles making a tiny part of litter, the same is not true of soft drinks and water containers.

On the point about switching from bottles to glass, beer is one of the few areas where that will happen. DRS wont apply to bean cans, just beverages. You may have some water switching from plastic to tetra, which is a pity cos tetra is really bad in terms of the reality of how its recycled - in theory its recycled in practice its normally not and frequently landfilled or burned.

The real motivation here is not litter though, its emissions. You start recycling food grade plastic and you reduce emissions from that packaging by about 60%.

On the glass v plastic or cans. Unless the glass is reusable, which is uncommon these days, the recycled plastic is lower emission to make and transport, same is true v cans. Although, there is quite a bit of investment in can technology that will reduce the emissions associated with that.

The removal of rpet (plastic) and aluminium from bins will reduce the income for waste management companies but the industry will also be taking this as an opportunity to increase revenues while they can blame the government.