The new recycling system

the re-turn stuff cannot be crushed to save space as the barcode needs to stay legible.

From my reading of the spec of these proposed machines it won't even attempt to read the barcode if the shape of the can or bottle is distorted.

So the can could be damaged on the side where the barcode isn't and it still won't be read.

There is absolutely no evidence to suggest grocery delivery drivers will collect waste.

It came from a comment in an interview during the week.

The person selling this scheme thought he heard something anecdotal about something happening.

Basically he made it up to avoid a pertinent awkward question.

Our local Tesco is having these put into the lobby as I type.

I pay just under 400 a year for 4 bins. So few litter bins in towns you could count on one hand with fingers over. Plus 3 dog poop bins. Council just ignores the necessity for litter bins so too much littering at times

I can't see us needing this new system. Very little cans or plastic bottles. Only cans might be beans occasionally we don't buy cans of soda or bottles of same and our tap water is perfect.

No idea. The private environmental company who were paid to push this through completed their report in 2019.

So it hasn't factored in the pandemic and the changes in consuming and shopping that has come from that.

It also hasn't factored in what decline in consumption if that has been one in 2 hefty consumption charges which have been implemented since.

Sugar tax and minimum pricing.

In fact the data they estimated their assumptions is 6+ years old at this stage.

One example of this would be the huge increase in reusable bottles now, which is a fairly large market and is becoming the norm.

Why wouldn't it?

It's never been tried, local councils put token effort into litter collection as you are well aware and less so into recycling.

Example 1:

I live in an expanding village in Galway. During covid the local counciller made a massive deal about getting the local council to put in a while TWO street bins (generic bins - no recycling option) in the village. That literally all thats there now.

Example 2:

As mentioned above my mother lives in an area where recycle bins aren't an option by the bin company. There are a lot of people living in the same area. Where do you think the potentially recycleable material goes?

Point 3:

Do you really think that the single machine in the shop you shop in will have the capacity (physical space) and indeed reliability so that when you go there every week without fail that it will always work? What happens when it doesn't work? Again, the comparisions with class recycling are a bit daft as they are not anywhere near as limited by space and/or technology amoung other things.

Point 4: Surely the accessibility of a household to a green bin is going to be a big driver of how likely they are to recycle and indeed have a big imact on that percentage you mention. If kerside collectiong "isn't feasible" then I don't see how the far worse for the environment option of everyone carry around empties all the time is going to work!

Just because something has been shown to be effective elsewhere doesn't mean it will work here.

Are you saying we won’t achieve 90% with this new system? That’s a very different argument then the one I thought you were making.

what is a rouble bottle and how are they processed

In the fatherland bottled water bottles, are recycled whole in crates, you get the refund, have not seen that here

No I don't think we will get anywhere close to 90 percent to be honest - we don't know what 90 percent is in any instance - I expect the reason we aren't near it at the moment is down to lack of recycling bins in residences and in public moreso than anything else.

I was suggesting that a tonne of more straightforward steps had not been taken before trying this one. Steps that make far more sense on every level but for some reason (I suspect vested business interests) haven't been implemented to the fullest.

Pi$$ing off a large proportion of your citizens isn't a great way to implement this type of change and I can tell you that when these machine come into play, there will be widespread dismay at:

1. Their capacity.
2. Their reliability.
3. The practicailties of this scheme.

As others have said here and elsewhere it doesn't look to have been fully scoped at all.

Like I said it won't suit everyone.

The other poster asked how I propose to keep the bottles and cans in good condition for the machine.

That's my plan.

Pi$$ing off a large proportion of your citizens isn't a great way to implement this type of change 

Absolutely especially when you need such high levels of societal buy in.

The vast majority of people I have spoken to have no idea this is coming, it really has flown under the radar.

It's live the 1st of February.

How is the refund payment made? I hope its by app or account via an app?

I dont really like that items cant be crushed, I think the machine should have the capacity to detect metal ferrous/non ferrous or allow a person indicate which it is (even by description, ie drink/beveragemetal container, aluminium) or food tin, ferrous and pay by weight.

Same for plastic, I think it might be better if a barcode for the material was etched into the plastic (maybe for all plastics) that can be read by a standardised system. I get the impression this will be a label?

Im surprised businesses arent pushing back and demanding the State pay/maybe even to site a unit on valuable retail space.

I think these machines would be better if they were located outside like courier/delivery lockers, but also at bring centres, possibly where they can scan any plastics.

A manual return (small shop, small volume) will be a cash or card refund.

An automated return (via a machine system at a larger retailer) will be a voucher refund, only redeemable against purchases in that store.

The reason that items cannot be crushed, is that the intent it to return them to their manufacturer of origin and have them cleaned, refilled and resealed for further sale, reducing the cost and impact of making a new bottle or can each time.

The culture change is not only for kids.

I have always crushed my cans because they put stickers on the big grey bins asking us to do so and it made sense that they'd take up less space.

Now it's change which apparently is more difficult the older you are.

Kids are adaptable so they should take it in their stride.

If not maybe you could threaten to stop buying cans for them 🙂

The reason that items cannot be crushed, is that the intent it to return them to their manufacturer of origin and have them cleaned, refilled and resealed for further sale, reducing the cost and impact of making a new bottle or can each time.

No it isn't. The machine crushes them after they are scanned. Can you imagine the transport costs if that were true?

Do lads know how government works? All these proposals were agreed by Cabinet of ALL the government parties.

And some odd policies are agreed to maintain the coalition. I don't think you're naïve enough to think every policy is fully supported by all government parties.

They're all approved by Cabinet. All parties are at Cabinet.

Since July 2021, a deposit system has applied to small plastic bottles - water bottles and soft drink bottles, for example - in the Netherlands. But only 58 percent of the sold bottles were returned for a deposit last year. That amounts to 400 million bottles not returned that year, or over one million plastic bottles per day, AD reports based on figures from the Packaging Waste Fund.

A big problem is with on the go, for example, if you have been on the train, walk out of the station, and still have that bottle. That often ends up in the regular trash. NS stations often have a collection device, but walking there still takes too much effort. I experience that myself,” Klein Lankhorts said.

pointing out that there are already 28,000 collection points in the Netherlands.

We will have less than 10% of that figure here.

I'm calling it now in 2026 the price of the deposit will be raised here, because that's all we know. Bigger stick!

You badly need to change company you are being ridden sideways.