Re-Turn Plastic Bottles

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If that's directed at me, then I'm not getting riled up. And I certainly didn't take it out on any staff or managers. The post above is a minor rework of an e-mail I sent to re-turn today which, given the discussion here, I considered worth putting in the public domain.

Teething Problems have been mentioned a lot in relation to this scheme. Re-turn have had years to prepare for it, and the experience gained in very mature implementations in other countries should have made it very easy to get it right first time. If the barcode databases which the RVMs are using aren't kept up to date this will be an ongoing problem and will undermine the scheme. I'm all for giving people a break when they deserve it, but this is a commercial operation which is being paid to operate the scheme, not some happy-clappy volunteer venture. So far their communication, planning and forethought leave a lot to be desired, in particular in relation to the transition.
 

Not directed at anyone on this thread. I would have @d you.
 
The gauge of carlsberg cans in particular and some others is so light that they can be easily dented just opening them so can't see many of them being reused.
 
I would definitely contact Re turn and ask what can be done.
 
Harvard said:
Era ring Eamonn on man of the people and all that
  • (01) 618 3898
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That's another part of the misinformation. The green party did not introduce this. Yep, it's in their remit under the present government, but if sf were in power and paul murphy was environment minister (paddy power 100,000/1), it would still be introduced.

It will be in the summer that we will see the difference it makes to the amount of litter in open spaces esp beaches - and we'll ask why we didn't do this 10 years ago
 
This is a solution brought in to solve a problem that didn't really exist.
Plastic bottles/cans are currently probably the item with the highest recycle rate of all.
Whats going to happen on a saturday morning when the machines are full in the shop ?
Anyone throwing one on a beach will still throw one on a beach, 15 cent won't make a difference.
With no similar tax in NI it will become another cross border business like cigs and coal, allowing the Govt to show their actions are reducing consumption in ROI based on ROI sales while in reality the consumption is the same.
 
JoeRoberts said:
This is a solution brought in to solve a problem that didn't really exist.
Plastic bottles/cans are currently probably the item with the highest recycle rate of all.
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According to the EPA, we only recycle 28% of our plastic waste. Aluminium rate isn't much better.

The 2025 target for both is 50%.




JoeRoberts said:
With no similar tax in NI it will become another cross border business like cigs and coal, allowing the Govt to show their actions are reducing consumption in ROI based on ROI sales while in reality the consumption is the same.
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Very few people south of the Dublin-Sligo trainline ever go shopping in Northern Ireland. No-one will be driving hours out of their way to save money on this.

Even in Dublin, fewer than 1 in 5 households per year shop in NI. Only half of those shoppers buy groceries when there - most are going for clothing and about 40% purchase alcohol. I don't think they will waste space in the boot on soft drinks.
 
Harvard said:
The packaging industry has a lot to answer for.
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Yes but not only the packaging industry but also the manufacturing and convenience industry as well
Using Coca-Cola as an example, why do we have to have so many can and bottle sizes for the one drink??
AFAIK there is a 150Ml and a 330Ml can, a 500Ml, a 750Ml, a 1Litre, a 1.25Ltr, a 1.5ltr and now after an absence of nearly 10 years the 2ltr is back on the shelves in Ireland, and in other countries there is also a 3Ltr bottles
That's 9 different ways to sell the one product and that's without including all the different multipacks and special offer packs!!
And then don't forget the different glass bottle sizes as well that are mainly used in bars and restaurants

While on one hand I totally agree with the "end user pays" policy but on the other I'd like to see industry doing their part as well
and reduce the amount of packaging waste that they allow into the system
 
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There are many different categories of 'plastic' waste. What's the % for the bottles in scope of this return scheme?
 
odyssey06 said:
There are many different categories of 'plastic' waste. What's the % for the bottles in scope of this return scheme?
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I couldn't find a breakdown.

Almost 2 billion bottles/cans consumed in Ireland per year, so every percent counts.

We are supposed to achieve 90% recycle rates within the next 5 years. Even if we achieve that we will still be sending 200,000,000 to landfill/incinerators.

Cervelo said:
While on one hand I totally agree with the "end user pays" policy but on the other I'd like to see industry doing their part as well
and reduce the amount of packaging waste that they allow into the system
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This is a really important point. The producers have the power but they have convinced the world that it's the job of govt/retailer/consumer to fix a problem they create.
 
Cervelo said:
I know why we have it, I'm questioning going forward if it is still the correct way to be doing thing thinking along the lines of the three R's
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I can only imagine that a company as successful as Coca Cola knows exactly what they're doing in relation to their product offerings.
 
There doesn't seem to be a breakdown, as I have seen the same figures quoted elsewhere and queried on the same basis.
It is not clear what % of the plastic and aluminium figures are actually made up of items in the Re-turn scheme.
Even if 100% of those items were recycled, would we get to the targets?

Given the amount of time \ money \ change impact going into Re-turn, it is quite surprising that such a basic exercise does not seem to have been done beforehand.
 
JoeRoberts said:
This is a solution brought in to solve a problem that didn't really exist.
Plastic bottles/cans are currently probably the item with the highest recycle rate of all.
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Not so:


I live near a shop, it will be interesting to see if the mix of litter generated in the area will change.
 
The one that gets me is having 2-3 layers of packaging on a product and the inside container is also branded.
 
T McGibney said:
I can only imagine that a company as successful as Coca Cola knows exactly what they're doing in relation to their product offerings.
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Do they, I seem to remember back in 1985 they launched a new flavour Coke that didn't do to well
In fact I think it's used as an example in marketing courses of how not to do things

But having said that I think any company that has been around for 138 years know what there doing when it comes to running there own business and how to maximise profits but whether there acting in the best interests of the environment or "greenwashing" I can't say
 
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