There’s been a lot of noise around the implementation of DRS in Ireland, much of it negative, but official figures clearly show that the scheme has had a huge positive impact.
By Antony Begley
For everyone in the Scottish local retailing sector scarred by the botched first attempt to implement a Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland, the rollout of a similar scheme across the water in Ireland was always going to make for interesting viewing.
There were many people, of course, with raw emotions and vested interests keen to see the Irish scheme collapse in disarray and, yes, anecdotal reports continue to appear demonstrating how the Irish DRS isn’t yet working precisely as planned.
There’s no doubt, however, that it’s working across the major metrics. The 2024 Annual Report from Re-turn, the Irish scheme administrator, concludes that Ireland’s recycling rate for plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans has jumped from 49% to 91% since the introduction of DRS in February 2024. Of this, around 76% is directly captured by the DRS.
More than 1.6 billion containers have now been recycled since launch, an annual increase of 798 million containers.
Costcutter Express Macroom
June Murphy, Owner
“At first, we were unsure about DRS but we were hopeful. Now, everyone brings their recyclables back to us because there are no long queues like in the bigger stores. Customers tend to bring back their empty containers weekly which sees the deposit refund mostly being spent in-store. The machine is processing over 7,000 containers monthly.”
Positive progress
Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn, said: “These recycling figures are far beyond what we had projected to achieve just a year after the end of the transition phase for the scheme.”
Interestingly, Foley also touched on the wider benefits of the scheme, over and above the clear environmental ones: “The social impact of the scheme and the engagement with it from community groups across the country has exceeded any and all expectations. Schools, clubs and charities all over Ireland have engaged with and utilised the scheme to raise funds for a wide variety of worthy causes.”
“Ireland’s experience with DRS shows that engaging early really makes a difference for convenience retailers. Bottle returns quickly become a key part of the in-store experience, and waiting until others have rolled out their solutions could mean missing out, and potentially losing valuable customers.
“Local retailers are at the heart of their communities, and the successful retailers in Ireland are those who’ve embraced DRS as an opportunity to offer a simple, convenient service that keeps shoppers coming back. We’ve seen that stores which planned early and chose a solution that suited their unique store became the go-to return point in their local area.”
Meanwhile, Tony Keohane, Chair of the Board of Re-turn, explained that the success of the Scheme was only possible because of the way the various stakeholders worked together to deliver the best possible solution: “The success has been driven by extraordinary collaboration across government, retailers, producers and the wider supply chain, and most importantly by the enthusiastic participation of the Irish public.”
And on top of all of that good stuff, Re-turn is helping in the development of Ireland’s first PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility which will enable PET plastic bottles collected through the DRS to be fully recycled within the country. This will reduce Ireland’s reliance on exporting PET plastic for processing.
Hanlon’s Gala Shop, Longford
Patrick Hanlon, Owner
“We are probably one of maybe three stores in the whole of Ireland that open fully 24 hours. Some people still don’t like the idea of coming to the machines during the day. They have a bit of a hang-up about it, but at night, we are offering something a little bit different. A lot of my customers are happy to use the reverse vending machine somewhere like this that’s a little quieter and easier to access.”
Next objectives
So, while we may continue to hear negative stories around Ireland’s DRS, and Re-turn itself admits there’s a long way to go, it’s simply inaccurate to conclude that, from a big-picture point of view, the system isn’t working.
In its 2024 Annual Report, it’s also instructive and interesting to learn of the key priorities that Re-turn set for itself for 2025:
- Expanding the return network and high-capacity RVMs.
- Improving access and participation across all communities.
- Supporting retailers and producers.
- Investing in public education to encourage consistent recycling behaviours.
Costcutter Windy Arbour, Dublin
Aaron Massey, Owner
“We’ve had an RVM since September 2023 but since the DRS went live in February 2024, the number of drink containers returned to the store rose more than 350%. We’ve embraced the process. We’ve educated our team and educated our customers in turn.”
Real learnings
There’s a lot we can learn from the Irish experience as we approach the October 2027 deadline, not least the fact that once it’s actually in place, it seems like customers have no major issues with engaging. In retailer terms, that engagement means footfall and footfall presents opportunity.
With the clock already ticking, it’s time to grasp this particular thistle and ensure that your store and your business is ready to take advantage of the opportunities that a well implemented DRS scheme can hold for you.
- 6bn containers recycled since launch in February 2024.
- 798 million more containers recycled per year.
- Recycling rate for containers jumped from 49% to 91%.
- Lowest average levels of bottle and can litter on Irish shores in 25 years.
- 50% drop in container littering.
