Government urged to reform or disband 'shambolic' Re-turn scheme after €500,000 bin-raiding bill
Darragh Mc Donagh
The Government has been urged to reform or disband the “shambolic” Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) after it emerged that ‘bin-raiding’ for bottles and cans has cost Dublin City Council €500,000.
The issue was raised in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, who told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that the Government had incentivised people to dump rubbish on the streets “in the name of cleaning up the country”.
He described the latest controversy regarding the DRS as “incredible”, and asked if the Taoiseach would now look to either reform or end the “shambolic scheme”.
Martin said the “bin scavenging” reported by Dublin City Council needed to be examined more “in terms of scale and prevalence”, and added that the Government keeps all schemes under review.
Tóibín had also questioned the amount of money accumulated by Re-turn, the private company that operates the DRS, claiming that €103 million in unredeemed deposits was “resting in its account”.
“They also made money on the sale of aluminium cans that we collected for them, and they also get money from the producers of the drinks,” said the Meath West TD.
However, he said Re-turn still refuses to pay properly the shops that handle plastic and aluminium containers on its behalf, referring to the fact that it recently refused to increase its retailer handling fee of 2.2 cent per container.
Tóibín said the DRS deposit was “like a tax” on consumers, except it doesn’t go towards paying for hospitals, education, housing and other public services.
“Instead, it goes to a company and to CEO salaries that they refuse to publish,” he said.
“Now your scheme has created another mess, Taoiseach – bin-raiding. The Government has created a new phenomenon, bin scavenging. In the name of cleaning up the country, you’ve incentivised people to dump the contents of bins onto the streets.”
Martin said the DRS had been introduced by former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and has had “a very strong impact” in terms of recycling rates.
“So, there has been positives to the scheme,” he added.
Earlier this week, it was reported that clean-up operations following instances of bin-raiding by people scavenging for cans and bottles had cost Dublin City Council €500,000 since the introduction of the scheme in February 2024.
The local authority’s waste management section estimated that three hours in every 24-hour cleaning cycle were being diverted to deal with “bin interference” as a result of the DRS.
The installation of bin surrounds specifically for the collection of these containers at a cost of €40,000 had proven to be of limited use, according to internal briefing documents.
A further €115,000 had been spent replacing locks on bins at a cost of €115 per receptacle after they were broken open by people looking for containers that are worth between 15 cent and 25 cent per item.
