Deposit return scheme (recycling) - Part 2

Whatever private company put up their charges, they must not be in the IWMA.

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-07-10/23/ (10 July 2024).

"The Department is currently engaging with the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) and other stakeholders such as REPAK – to quantify what substantive impact, if any, the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will have on the waste collection system in Ireland over the longer term."

It's Brussels again. They also made it very hard to separate the ring pulls from aluminium cans.

It is mandatory for all EU states to have phased out loose caps by 3 July for plastic drinks bottles up to three litres. It's part of an EU directive announced in 2018 that aims to reduce single-use plastic waste. Loose caps have been banned as part of a larger plan to tackle plastic waste in Europe.

its not obvious that its a new thing, first few times it looks like a slight problem with the bottle/carton so you can force them off but are then left with an awkward "sticky out bit"

It's a pity that companies like Coca Cola waited until 2024 to use tethered caps. They knew it was going to be law for years before that. The caps are lethal to the environment.

https://www.coca-cola.com/ie/en/sustainability/attachedcaps

No minister can do anything, even if they really wanted to. Our waste management is handled by private companies because FG sold it off, and they can do what they damn well please if it's within the law.

Raising your prices is within the law.

This is what happens when government hand over essential public services to a privately owned cartel and why it should never be the case. They can just shrug and say "oh there's nothing we can do. What a pity" because they've already abandoned their responsibility.

And I'll put money on it that it won't be the last price hike because of this stupid scam.

And here we are several months later. Law abiding citizens who paid our bin charges, segregated our waste, picked rubbish & recyclables from the road & beauty spots. Now put to extra hassle having to collect & feed machines to get our own money back. Whilst the utterly predictable outcome of bin charges rising has come about.

We need to get the public stocks back and lock these lads in it for a day so the public can pelt them with offal and refuse.

But as it is, we'll have to do with thrashing them next election.

And yet unnecessary step needlessly complicating refining. Instead of having unified material stream they have to send it through sorting machine as caps are from different plastic and cant be refined with bottles material.

So much for being green wasting extra electricity, man power and tons of water separating what could have been done cost free.

Well leaving out the stocks I agree with you that the consumer should not have to go to the trouble of DRS and also pay a private company for not collecting the plastic bottles and cans.

This says it all regarding the stupid caps on bottles

What I do too - too frigging annoying to reorientate just to pour some milk out - I'm sure they will start strengthening the plastic

For the first time yesterday, I witnessed an "unwell person" (Joe Duffy language) collecting bottles and cans

I don't mind the caps at least I don't lose them now. I found pushing the cap back till you hear a click holds them in place and aren't much of nuisance then. The biggest nuisance is the carrying empty bottles around with you till you either get home or if you buy another drink. I am going to the airport tomorrow so more than likely will buy a bottle of soft drink in the departures will be charged the tax, I think departures in the airport should exempt for this charge.

Brought a black bag full of cans and bottles to Tesco's most were taken had a few rejections but a wipe of the barcode to make sure no liquid was on it and most of them were accepted. Had 3 cans that would not be accepted by the machine and was about throw them in the bin when I said I would try the machine next to it and cans were accepted first time, so one machine would not accept them even though it accepted similar cans but the machine next to it took them no problem. Makes no sense.

Shopping in Aldi in Belgard this morning and there was a lad in Panda Waste uniform with 3 back bags full of cans/bottles feeding the machine. The other one was broken and there was a queue of annoyed looking people waiting behind him.

Worth noting for anyone travelling to France this summer that a lot of the premium cans from Belgium/Germany in the hypermarket in Cherbourg had the returns logo on them, so you can subsidise the already much cheaper beer you bring home by a further 15c a tin thanks to Return!

Not an uncommon sight in Dublin city centre now to see individuals emptying out bins searching for cans and bottles and not being too bothered about putting the rubbish back in. Similar individuals harassing passers-by for their cans/bottles if they're carrying some.

Also on my travels I've seen people rummaging through the large bins outside apartment buildings, but at least they weren't leaving too much of a mess.

The 'circular economy' in action. Can't get much more circular than that!🤣😂