Over 347 million drinks containers returned in first six months of deposit return scheme

Ellen O'Donoghue

Over 347 million drinks containers have been returned since the Deposit Return Scheme started on February 1st.

The company running it has said 84 per cent of people in the country have used one of the reverse vending machines.

Re-Turn said one in five people have taken the cash option, while the vast majority use in-store vouchers after returning bottles and cans.

There are now over 2,500 reverse vending machines across the country, increased from 1,800 when the scheme launched.

Public support for the scheme has grown over the last six months.

In February, at the beginning of the scheme, two million containers were returned over the course of the month, which has now risen to an average of 3.2 million containers returned every day in July, totalling over 102 million returns for the month.

Over half of consumers, 59 per cent, bring their empty drinks containers back when their bag or box is full at home, while 36 per cent bring them back whenever they do a grocery shop.

When the voucher has been issued, 62 per cent of people redeem the voucher immediately against grocery purchases.