Deposit return scheme (recycling) - Part 2

The plastics industry would like people to believe that plastic can be recycled infinitely. But this is a lie. At best, you can get a useable product from plastic in two or, if lucky, three cycles and most plastic (90%) simply cannot be recycled at all. When you couple that fact with the fact that there's nearly a million plastic bottles produced every minute (over a billion every day), you can understand why the plastics business would like the naive to buy into the bullshit idea of a "circular economy" with regards to plastics.

Frankly, when oil runs out on this planet, it might be better for mankind and the world over all, assuming mankind is still on it.

This was all very predictable and was called out before the scheme was even introduced.

There is more waste on the streets since the scheme was introduced, particularly in urban areas.

Well of course if you are in the business of selling plastic, you want the naive to remain naive. And if you sell oil, you want the plastic producers to keep producing plastic. If they put a tax on plastic bottles and the likes of Coca Cola, Pepsi etc saw a dramatic decline of their sales, they wouldnt be long changing their tactics in how they package their produce.

I meant a serious tax on PET bottles, leave aluminium alone. When a 500ml bottle of coke is 3.50 but a 330ml can of coke is 2 euro, the public wouldnt be long cottoning on.

Ive stayed in a few hotels over the last few months, and in every single one, the complimentary bottle of water has been replaced with a tetrapak style cardboard "bottle".

Yes, but when there is a significant difference between the price of plastic bottles over cans, the consumer will vote with their wallets and the vendors will see the massive drop in sales of plastic bottles and change their ways. A 500ml can of monster is 2.25 in Tesco. When a 500ml bottle of coke is 4 euros, sales of plastic bottles will plummet.

https://www.checkout.ie/packaging-design/a-step-closer-to-the-circular-economy-198985

Hey Minister!

I pay the deposit, clean the bottle/can-sort it for ReTurn and bring it to the RVM!

When do I get fecking paid!

“One of the big learnings that we took away from our examination of the
Deposit Return Schemes in other countries was that everyone in the
Deposit Return Scheme chain has to be paid for their work.

Just taking the three bullet points you mention in addition to mine

1 electronic refunds would suit some and if they can be incorporated to run alongside the current system I was would support that.

2 the present machines have to read the barcodes so I don't think they can be adapted to accept crushed cans.

3 for many people the shop is the obvious place to use an RVM. Personally I fit it in with a trip to the shop and want that to continue. If bulk machines were introduced I expect they would be at civic amenity sites. Would that suit your requirement for a non shop location ?

4 I've already covered the threatened bin charge increase and I'm totally opposed to any increase. I'm not sure what you mean by sweetener.

I expect details of how much the cash pile is will be released and plans for using it too.

There have been a few posts about reducing plastic use today. It's a much wider subject than DRS and I'm not sure it's on topic.

Dunnes Stores machine today refused this bottle "barcode not accepted/recognised at this machine, please recycle elsewhere"

Carrick Glen water

I dont share you're optimism for incoming transparency on deposit figures

I have zero optimism for transparency.

It's misleading to say Australia does certain things, when it varies from State to State. South Australia started their scheme in 1977, and I doubt it is the same today as back then. Tasmania is still working on bringing in a scheme.

"Tasmania

In December 2014 a state-based deposit scheme was rejected by the government, citing costs and the need to ship containers to the Australian mainland for processing. Various environmental organisations, including The Greens and many Tasmanian local councils have been pushing for a scheme in Tasmania for many years. Most people are in favour of a scheme according to various studies that have been conducted over the years."

Australia is a lot bigger than the EU by area. 7.688 million km² as against 4.423 km². There are many variations, so you would need to outline the history of any schemes you want me to compare. One which started in February 2024 is likely to have evolved less than ones which are in operation for decades. And there has always been local debate everywhere, with many voices declaring the schemes to be scams. This is from Melbourne 7 month ago on Reddit: (Victoria started their scheme in November 2023, so may be going through some growing pains).

PSA

Just went to drop off a bunch of cans, all of which were labelled “10c refund at collection”. Turns out this was not the case for most of them.

The helpful fella at the collection point said if the cans don’t have a barcode, they can’t be scanned. That ruled out a whole bunch of craft beers in my haul.

He also said many local brews don’t scan either, even with a barcode (ie Burnley Brewing pale ale and Jarrah Boy lager, which I discovered).

I’m in CDS West, so it might be a problem with the provider. I couldn’t find any info about ineligible cans online. But yeah, if you rock up with a heap of cans, be aware that you might have to chuck some in the yellow bin anyway.

cans get melted, random rubbish you put in will just burn off and they are absolutely still being recycled. So you're not doing anything other than running the risk of cutting your fingers doing that pointless petulance.

Tetrapak is plastic bottle which try to look like paper one. Bit less of plastic yet completely not recyclable.