What's this Shite ?? - Re-turn logo on bottles and cans !!!

[Wendysfriend]

Who the heck came up with this scheme ? An added charge to plastic and aluminium and the only way to get this back is by bringing your crap back to a shop, empty, un damaged and shove it in the machine for a refund .

So I've to pay extra to buy these items, not put them in my recycling bin and walk up to the shop with bags of cans and bottles to get my money back . Is this for real ?

If I do put them into my recycling bin, it means, I've paid either 15c or 25c extra per item at the checkout and now I'm going to pay my bin company too, to take them away .

Surely this can't be right ? It's like I'm back in the 70s bringing my bottles back to the shop, maybe I'll wheel the whole feckin wheelie bin up to the shop

Also v annoying when you don't drive. I await pictures of that plonker Eamonn Ryan struggling with bags of recycling on his bike... AND while i'm at it, there's SFA recycling facilities where i am. In a well established suburb of a main city. How about they sort that shit out before coming up with these hairbrained schemes 😡

Pant has been working well in other countries for almost half a century.

Yes .. the people who don't drive, what do they do ? spend more on bus fare to get their refund, the buses will have people with bags of bottles and cans.

What about the disabled ? Again they're treated like scum of the earth, I can just see my poor sister wheeling herself to the shopping centre to get her refund.

And yes, not every supermarket has signed up, so some will have to travel further to get their refund, my sister in Cavan (top end) gets her online shopping from bailieborough, that's one heck of a trek for her .

They went about it all wrong, maybe if they worked it that there was no extra charge and you get a bonus refund when using the machines people wouldn't mind, but having to pay extra for the products in the first place , then tough shit if you can't bring it back . I'd rather use my recycling bin, I've enough crap going on in my life without having to factor in time to bring these bottles back.

Isn't this supposed to be better for the environment? Can't really see how that works as there'll be more people driving, on buses, clogging up the roads and supermarkets to bring this stuff back, how much easier is it to open your back door and stick it in the wheelie bin and pay your bin company to take it.

And you can't even crush the cans to minimise your travel. Crazy stuff. Poor shop staff having to deal with this today. Pure BS.

I just can't see this working, especially for households with a few people and who use a lot of these. Maybe that's their game, they know people will pay the extra charge and just bin it in their wheelie bin , meaning paying for it twice to be disposed off.

And storage. Where the flip am I meant to store them til I bring them back? Or am I meant to take daily trips to the nearest machine?!?

I guess it’s supposed to DISCOURAGE people from buying plastic bottles etc rather than ENCOURAGE recycling…

I think it's really over the top to describe this law as treating disabled people like the scum of the earth.

Yes and it would be great if the shops were stocked with alternative options instead of companies making all their products in shit packaging and passing on the liability to the customer.

I want all shops to ditch fridges and have cold drinks machines next to those Costa machines. Inside, it would use syrups, a CO2 cannister and a water supply. Then you would take your own container and choose any drink you like, and it dispenses a fixed amount then prints a receipt for you to pay just like the Costa machines. These machines exist for cold drinks because they have them in Five Guys (without the receipt printer, but Costa have managed that so it's doable).

If something like that was a choice I'd be far more positive about penalising people for buying in plastic bottles/cans. But while they're the only options, all you're doing is penalising people for buying drinks.

In your CAR. Emitting fumes. Wonderful green initiative 🙄

I totally agree that it’s stupid to do this scheme without a viable alternative but i would hate your idea of a drinks dispenser!!! I need my coke zero as fizzy as possible when i open s bottle snd i don’t think a dispenser would give me my fix!!!

Just listened to Liveline about it there. General sense of anger and confusion about the whole thing. It's just so half arsed in its roll out. Not neccessarily a bad idea, but they fucked it up royally. As usual.

@Wendysfriend that's who deliver my shopping too. :)

In Cavan there has been free plastic recycling for as long as I've lived here (only county I know with it) We keep our plastic in the garage to bring to the bottle bank, usually once a month.

The closest re-turn place to me is about a 20 min drive. I will go when I have something else to do in that town.

Recycling the plastic and cans for free (now for the deposit) has massively reduced our recycling bin costs, because it doesn't need to be emptied very often. If your provider only does a fixed price per month I would be questioning it.

It will make companies that supply these things more aware of their packaging and they will do things to avoid having the deposit on their bottles.

I have seen people on SM groups saying it will cost them a fortune because they are buying so many single use plastic bottles. I know some places have terrible tasting water, and worse unsuitable water (which should not be a thing in Ireland in 2024!). It might encourage these people to buy the much larger bottles of water. I got my mam to switch to buying 2ltr bottles and refilling a water bottle instead of always buying small ones. The 5ltr ones would be better but she cannot lift those.

One woman said she barely bothers with the green bin, uses the "kitchen" bin it's because of people like that.

My sister's in Meath and Cavan have bin companies, they have big recycling bins along with general waste , glass and food bin, that they get collected, I'm not sure who or how much, I think it's weight or a yearly fee and added fees when they go over the weight limit. I'm not 100% sure, would need to check. I'm in Dublin , I pay monthly and have a weight limit. There's definitely a fee for all of us for the removal of the recycling bin, it cheaper than the waste but the bins come as a package.

It is half arsed, that's typical for us. They only consider one type of family/person and think everyone is the same.

It's unfortunate that most drinks come in plastic or aluminium, we're being punished for the materials companies are using. We'll soon be drinking water from paper bottles with our paper straws .

I kid you not… you can buy your 10l water in paper boxes now in belgium! The future is here!!!

You can buy water in paper boxes in aldi Ireland.

How do you drag that home if you don't drive though (as the greens would encourage us not to do). No way thay would work for my non driving family.

I doubt you would be walking home with 10kg of water in addition to any other shopping

But I guess stick it in a rucksack - like I do with my shopping as it's easier to carry weight on your back

I live in Germany and this form of recycling has been in place since 2003 Every plastic bottle and drinks can has a 'Pfand' or deposit on it . It has just become a routine to bring bottles back when going to the supermarket or to the Getränkemarkt or drinks market for everyone .Another positive is that very few bottles ar thrown away as rubbish in city centres as many homeless /kids and others will collect them and bring them back for the deposit with the result that there is less plastic rubbish in city centres.There was never any opposition to it and everyone adapted to it very quickly .
We had this in Ireland when I was young .My brother and I used to gather the bottles on our local very long strand in the summer and bring them back for the deposit .We made a fortune!
there is too much plastic packaging in Ireland and something has to happen to reduce it and protect the environment.

But that weight, on top of your other shopping, is not practical. The green party are great for these ideas, but they don't give a fuck about the actual consequences for people.

I bet they planned the scheme properly when the brought it in in Germany though.

I think it's brilliant. Have experienced it in Germany and Sweden where it's been in place for years. I'm sure they had early hiccups with their systems, but all will be ironed out.

Those crying about the weight of the recycling, sure you carried them home full from the supermarket, they'll weigh less bringing them back cos they're empty now.

I sometimes walk to our local shopping centre and on the short walk home, will pick up any cans or bottles that I pass (my kids think I'm a lunatic, but hey ho!). Every time, I have at least a dozen items which I then wash and put in my green bin. People are such messy, lazy skanks - if this new scheme discourages even half the litterers from throwing bottles and cans away, it'll be a huge improvement.

The planning and execution of the scheme does not appear to be any different ( I am in Ireland atm) .What did spring up in Germany in the meantime which may be a business idea for Ireland is a proliferation of firms who deal in delivering new drinks and collecting empties from private households . My son worked for one and dragged crates of drinks up five flights of stairs and down again. However difficult it may seem it is doable and essential to reduce plastic waste. this scheme is also in place in the Netherlands and other EU countries so its not anything new .

That's lovely for you, as you dance through the meadows with the odd bit of recycling, but it puts some of us at a disadvantage. I can't walk, so my husband has to lug the shopping home every day. From quite a distance. We don't drive (i'm sure the greens would approve), so he gets the bus if we have money, or walks. It's crazy that he now also has to walk 20/25 mins e/w with recycling. He has knee and back problems. It's crazy that in a large suburb, that has been here for 20ish years, they haven't bothered their holes to put in recycling banks here. And yet brought this crap in almost overnight. Tbh, you can fk right off with your 'messy lazy skanks' comment. A bit of empathy mightn't go amiss?

If you'd read my post properly, instead of frothing, you'll see that I refer to anyone who litters as a messy, lazy skank. I'm assuming you and your husband aren't throwing litter around outside but, if you are, the description applies perfectly.