Do you return your bottles and cans to get your deposit back?
not cashing in
on the Deposit Return Scheme last year.
Re-turn's annual report has revealed that the decision by many not to take back their soft drinks containers has contributed to the State-backed firm recording a surplus which, as a non-profit organisation, they will reinvest.
Since the scheme was rolled out in February 2024, there has been an added charge of 15 cents or more on most bottles and cans. Consumers get it back when they bring the container to one of the special machines for recycling.
Today, we're asking you:
Do you return your bottles and cans to get your deposit back?
Poll Results:
Always
(1098)
I don't bother
(233)
Most of the time
(195)
When I remember/have time
(94)
Always
Most of the time
When I remember/have time
I don't bother
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RTÉ News
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Political scientist Liz Carolan said that the high cost with the potential for no reimbursement, may explain why some parties seem hesitant to put a candidate forward. "It could be that they're looking back to that experience and they're looking and saying this could easily cost us half a million," she said. That means if a party misreads its candidate's popularity, not only is it potentially embarrassingly, but also hugely costly. "A few former candidates have come out and sort of spoken about how it was a costly and bruising experience," Ms Carolan added. Expenses in a presidential campaign In the 2018 election, just under €75,000 was declared by all candidates as donations to their campaign. That amounts to around 5% of the €1.3 million that was spent by all candidates during that campaign. 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Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
Irish consumers turn their back on €66.7m as they fail to cash in on Deposit Return Scheme
The annual report shows Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4m in 2024 Irish consumers last year turned their back on €66.7 million when they failed to cash in their deposits for soft drink containers through the Government's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). That is according to the 2024 annual report for Re-turn which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their soft drink containers was the chief reason behind the State backed firm to record a pre-tax surplus of €51.3m for 2024. Established by Government, Re-Turn went live with its Deposit Return Scheme operations on February 1st 2024 with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans. Last year, 877.85m containers were returned made up of 433.2m plastic bottles and 444.6m cans. The annual report shows Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4m in 2024. This included the €66.7m in unredeemed deposits and €47.7m made up of €17.2m from the sale of material and €30.5m from 'producer fees'. The annual report discloses that the income from unredeemed deposits has resulted in a VAT settlement by Re-turn of €23.7m. . News in 90 Seconds - Aug 9th The company's 2024 costs totalled €62.2m made up of direct collection and recycling costs of €46.5m and administrative expenses of €1.5.7m which included a spend of €4.6m on 'marketing, communications, and public awareness'. The report states that the €66.7m reflects the recognition of unredeemed deposits for the financial year and 'this is after a €36.5m estimate of deposits expected to be returned post year end'. The report states that 'unredeemed deposits are an expected and routine scenario for deposit return schemes and it was anticipated that in the initial transition period redemptions would be low and therefore there would be a high level of unredeemed deposits. The report states that "as a not-for-profit organisation, in the early stages of our maturity, the fees from unredeemed containers are being reinvested in a number of ways". These include paying off initial scheme set-up costs; infrastructure development; consumer education campaigns and contributing to our legally required contingency reserve The report adds that income from unredeemed deposits 'is expected to significantly reduce as the scheme reaches its targeted redemptions of 90% in the coming years'. The report states that 'in the long term, should unredeemed deposits be higher than forecast, we would support initiatives that drive increased adoption of the scheme as well as investing in broader innovative projects designed to further the country's circular economy strategy'. The report states that Re-turn closed the year with a cash balance of €89.8m. The report states that this cash figure will reduce significantly in 2025 when several significant draw-downs are scheduled and after accounting for these factors the adjusted cash balance would reduce to approximately €32m. The significant draw-downs include a VAT settlement on unredeemed deposits of €23.7m; a provision of €13.8m for Re-turn's contingency reserve fund; a settlement of the remaining €11.7m balance of the facility agreement with Bank of Ireland grant settlement of c.€3.2m to retailers in respect of 2024 and a provision of €5.4m for corporation tax arising on surplus in the scheme. In comments attached to the report, CEO of Re-turn, Ciaran Foley has stated: 'Thanks to the incredible buy-in and adoption from the Irish public, 877 million containers were returned through DRS in 2024, equating to an average 66% post transition period recycling rate. He said: 'The seasonality of the soft drinks market was reflected in some even higher months, such as in August when the return rate reached 75%. Every 1% increase equates to around 19 million containers, and we recorded some daily returns of over 5 million products over the Christmas period. Chair of Re-turn, Tony Keohane stated that the launch of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in February 2024 marked a defining milestone in the country's journey toward a more sustainable future. He said: 'From a standing start in Autumn 2022, the scheme collected more than 877 million drinks containers in its first 11 months. In that short time, we've seen Irish consumers recycle more bottles and cans than ever before and do so in a way that produces high quality recyclate, helping build a truly circular economy.'
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Irish consumers missed out on €66.7m in uncashed bottle deposit returns last year
Irish consumers missed out on €66.7 million last year when they failed to cash in their deposits for soft drink containers through the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Re-turn's 2024 annual report shows the failure to redeem these depositswas the chief reason behind the State-backed firm recording a pretax surplus of €51.3 million last year. Established by the Government, Re-Turn began its DRS operations on February 1st, 2024 with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans. Last year, 877.85 million containers were returned, made up of 433.2 million plastic bottles and 444.6 million cans. READ MORE Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4 million in 2024. This included the €66.7 million in unredeemed deposits and €47.7 million made up of €17.2 million from the sale of material and €30.5 million from 'producer fees'. The company's 2024 costs totalled €62.2 million, made up of direct collection and recycling costs of €46.5 million and administrative expenses of €15.7 million, which included a spend of €4.6 million on 'marketing, communications, and public awareness'. Influencers beware, Revenue is on the prowl Listen | 48:38 The report says 'unredeemed deposits are an expected and routine scenario for deposit return schemes and it was anticipated that in the initial transition period redemptions would be low and therefore there would be a high level of unredeemed deposits'. The report for the not-for-profit states, 'the fees from unredeemed containers are being reinvested in a number of ways'. These include paying off initial scheme set-up costs, infrastructure development, consumer education campaigns and contributing to its legally required contingency reserve. Income from unredeemed deposits 'is expected to significantly reduce as the scheme reaches its targeted redemptions of 90 per cent in the coming years'. Re-turn chief executive Ciarán Foley said: 'Thanks to the incredible buy-in and adoption from the Irish public, 877 million containers were returned through DRS in 2024, equating to an average 66 per cent post-transition period recycling rate. 'The seasonality of the soft drinks market was reflected in some even higher months, such as in August when the return rate reached 75 per cent. Every 1 per cent increase equates to around 19 million containers.'
