I buy Bottled water in Bulk and got stung for 6 euro charge today!! Deposit return Scheme- !!

Should be in the gripe section as its not a CI issue

The shop does not keep the money

Re this

Why am I penalised for doing my part for the environment?

Do you not see the irony in this when followed by

every 2 weeks, 48 litres in 2l bottles

It was announced over 2 years ago. What I find surprising is how many people are only aware of it now.

One of the main reasons it was introduced was people not following the simple instructions for recycling. CLEAN and DRY before putting in the recycling bin. Bins were full of dirty bean cans, tomato ketchup bottles etc. contaminating the bin.

The big scam is there is no tax on these containers. Only soft drink and beer containers. Bit like sugar tax, only effected soft drinks, not cakes, confectionery, added sugar in cereals etc, etc.

You aren't doing your part for the environment. You are wastefully using more plastic than you need to.

I'm not sure how buying 48 plastic bottles a month is doing anything for the environment...

Why not install a Brita P1000 filtering tap in the kitchen? The cartridges are about 50EUR/each and can filter 800 - 1200 litres of tap water. We've ditched bottled water for one of these and haven't looked back.

Plus, hefting those 5 litre bottles to decant into smaller bottles will be a good upper body workout, helping maintain those guns that can be lost as we get older.

So every 2 weeks OP you buy 24 bottles of water. That's a lot of plastic bottles in a year. What's wrong with the water from the taps in your house? If its lime just buy a filter jug and you will save a fortune in not having to buy water. Then you could save the money you are no longer wasting on buying bottled water and buy a water filtration system for your house like a poster above said. Only people with more money than sense buy bottled water all the time.

So you already recycle, but now you are going to just chuck it in the regular bin? Sounds like you don't really care about recycling.

No it's not.

Also if you are getting 48 2ltr bottles the drs levy on that would be €12(48*.25)

The retailer doesn't get to keep the deposit at all, the producers (Coke, Ballygowan etc) charge the retailer the 15/25c on every bottle and the retailer passes it on. It's the producers who pay the re-turn company to administer the scheme. Revenue collect the full drs charge from the retailer.

The only thing that retailers get out it is around 1c handling fee when accepting returns. If returns are not accepted then there is nothing in it for them

Whats the scam here ?

It's not a tax...that's just what people opposed to the scheme are using to justify their objection to it.

If you continue to dump the bottles it will become an expensive and pyric stand. However, that's a choice that is entirely up to you, as is buying so many bottles of water.

Looking at the size of those Return machines, I reckon you'd fill one up and it'd be out of service if you put 24, 2L bottles into it.

No the big scam is that most of the 'recycled' plastic is not actually being recycled, but ends up in incinerators or landfills 'out of the way', meaning in Asia or Africa. And that has nothing to do with contamination.

I think this system is meant to increase the percentage of truly recyclable plastic. At the moments its very poor I believe.

Does it have to be spelled out. Using your tap is way way way better than buying so much plastic.

So the "environment conscience" op is complaining about a bottle return scheme that will see better quality and more recycling, but sees no issues whatsoever in buying crates of 24x500ml water for over 23 years.

That's 24 empty bottles and a plastic wrap around.

His environmental thinking never stretched to the utter waste he was creating.

Even if he did need bottled water it never occurred to him to buy 2l or 5l bottles

2l bottles are about 50c, (25c/l) 500ml are about 25c (50c/l)

This "shock" and now subsequent change of habit will save the op hundreds of euro every year.

A lot of comments piling in on the OPs plastic consumption. I applaud any and all personal steps to reduce plastic, the reality is this scheme is an acceptance that we will not be abandoning single use containers any time soon. Don't feel alone OP!

No one yet has noted that the objective of Re-turn itself is NOT to reduce plastic. On the contrary, re-turn will perpetuate single use plastic for at least another two decades as we now have invested 100s of millions in a shiny new scheme to absolve us of guilt.

Sure, re-turn improves collection rate and recycling quality, but be more sure: it completely ignores reuse or reduce strategies. It may also increase volumes if producers decide shrinkflation tactics help them overcome the impact of DRS (imagine if the water supplier was previously selling 6 x 2l for €4, instead of that becoming €4 plus €1.50, they instead reduce the pack to 6 x 1.5l for €4 inclusive of DRS - this strategy will increase unit volume).

Large producers of PET bottles must be very pleased that schemes like these give plastic container use a green veneer, it legitimises the continued use of plastic and inhibits them from finding other solutions.

I have taken some steps of my own to completely avoid this scheme (it has focussed my own mind on what I do) but 99% of people will participate in re-turn and continue their SUP consumption, feeling 'rewarded' for doing it too.

Yep, that's likely the easiest strategy for anyone who doesn't have a convenient machine that actually works - buy less of these products and toss them in the bins we already pay for.

Won't be long till the manufacturers start squealing though when sales fall

Indeed there are some people out there that have the inability to bring empties back to coincide with the next time they are shopping or sometiem that they are passing a shop with a return

Thankfully there are very few that have this type of mindset.

Similar types also don't understand how plastic bottle recycling works and instead of finding out, make assumptions to suit their own misplaced narrative

ink on thermal paper? The refund slips are the size of a bus ticket. A Large 1000m roll of thermal paper is about €1.

Proof that it works is the op (if their story is true) is changing their habits and buying large 5L containers only.

They needed the same size car/van to bring them from the shop (people who are against this dreadfully simply system seem not to understand that you buy the drinks in the 1st place)

And what about people that can't return them, who get them delivered to home because they are DISABLED?

Seriously get a filter jug lads

No. Plastic bottles are unneceesary for drinking water.