Ireland delivers verdict on paid recycling scheme now coming to the UK

Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which sees consumers paid to recycle bottles and cans, has been controversial.

Inside of Cropped Image Of Person Throwing Waste In Dump. Close-up of woman hand throwing an empty water bottle in litter bin outdoors. Recycling concept. Horizontal photography.
Ireland's scheme has seen 980 million containers recycled (Getty)

Ireland has delivered its verdict on its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which sees consumers paid to recycle bottles and cans - a version of which is coming to the UK in 2027.

The scheme launched in Ireland on February 1, 2024, and was designed (as the UK's upcoming paid-recycling scheme is) to reduce littering of plastic bottles and cans by paying for returns.

But Ireland's scheme has been controversial, with consumers complaining that machines would not pay out if cans were bent, according to the Irish Mirror.

Almost a billion (980 million) cans and bottles were returned during the first year of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

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The DRS reduced the littering of plastic bottles and cans by half, with up to three million containers now recycled every day.

During the first year, 84% of the Irish public participated in the scheme.

Ireland’s minister for climate, Darragh O'Brien, said, “In its first 12 months, the DRS has collected and recycled over 980 million bottles and cans and has dramatically reduced the number of those containers ending up as litter or being landfilled.”

Under Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme, a small deposit (15-25 cents) is added to the price when consumers buy drinks with the 'Re-turn' logo.

Rubbish including fragments of broken plastic items, rope, and plastic bags, is pictured, washed up on the shore from the sea, in Crosby, northwest England on April 22, 2024. Earth Day, observed annually on April 22, was first celebrated in 1970, and now includes a wide range of events across more than 193 countries, demonstrating support for environmental protection. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Schemes are very effective at reducing plastic pollution (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Consumers can get the money back by returning an empty, undamaged container to collection points (typically found at supermarkets).

The scheme affects bottles and cans 150ml and up.

The DRS will be introduced in October 2027 in England and Northern Ireland (Scotland is working on its own version of a DRS scheme).

The British scheme mirrors successful ones in 50 other countries including Germany and Sweden: buyers of soft drinks will be charged a small fee when they buy disposable bottles.

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This fee is then returned when the bottle is handed in at a designated collection point.

Collection points will be at public places like supermarkets, as in the Republic of Ireland.

Most small bottles and cans will be affected.

Anything from 150ml to three-litre single-use drinks containers made from plastic and metal will be included in the scheme.

Such schemes tend to be very successful in persuading people to recycle bottles, with the materials then used to be recycled into new drinks containers.

The average return rate for European countries with a DRS is 90%, according to environmental group global eNGO Reloop.

In Germany, the return rate is 98%.

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