Deposit Return Scheme reliability ‘not good enough’, minister admits as our survey reveals extent of issues

Circular Economy Minister Ossian Smyth made the admission as new figures show that one in seven machines around the country are not working at any given time.

Scheme operator Re-turn said the 2,300 machines at shops around the country were running at an overall “uptime” of 86pc.

An environmental group that campaigned for the bottle and can recycling initiative has also said the amount of time the machines were out of order must improve so the public did not feel “shafted”.

It comes as an Irish Independent survey found one in six people (17pc) said that when they tried to use a reverse vending machine (RVM) to return their empties, it was not working. Just over one in five had problems with a working machine rejecting their containers.

Mr Smyth said Re-turn must reach 95pc to hold public support and to collect enough bottles and cans to hit recycling targets.

“The high-reliability machines are running at 90pc availability, but that’s not good enough either,” he said.

“It shouldn’t happen more than 5pc of the time [that they are unavailable] and that should be for emptying and cleaning.”

Environmental group Voice campaigned for years for the scheme, but said out-of-order machines could dent public support for the project.

“There’s no point saying the machines are available 86pc of the time if someone has tried repeatedly and their local machine is always out of order,” Colin O’Byrne of Voice said. “To them, it’s unavailable 100pc of the time.”

The Irish Independent survey revealed the impact out-of-order machines were having on the scheme, with just 25pc of people saying they kept their containers to try another machine later.

Mr Smyth said he understood the concerns. “It’s OK for me because I’m in Dublin and have a choice of return points,” he said. “For someone living in a rural location who has to travel further to find a machine, the machine they arrive at has to be working.”

He also acknowledged there was an issue with containers being rejected.

Mr Smyth said this was mainly because non-eligible bottles and cans were still being sold, and people were mistakenly trying to return them.

“On June 1, it’s actually illegal to sell a drink which doesn’t have a Re-turn logo,” Mr Smyth said. “The people in charge of enforcing that are the local authorities. It will be their job to go into the shops, looking on the shelves and seeing if there’s anything with no logo on.”

Breaches are an offence under waste management law and risk a fine of up to €5,000.

Re-turn said it was happy with the uptake so far and that it had anticipated some teething problems.

“The network of over 2,300 machines is currently running at an uptime of 86pc. This reflects the time the machines are fully operational,” it said.

“Reasons for machines being temporarily down during the day include being full, being emptied, undergoing servicing or incorrect items inserted and needing attention.

“We are working closely with retailers and suppliers to support them with any operational issues and ensure optimal uptime for their machines.

“A Re-turn RVM quality team is currently visiting retailers nationwide to ensure RVMs are maintained correctly, optimally set up and staff are fully trained to manage container returns.”

The scheme began on February 1 and since then, retailers have had to charge a deposit of 15c or 25c on drinks sold in aluminium cans and plastic bottles, depending on size, with the deposit returned to the consumer when the empties are brought back.

Returns have increased steadily from two million containers in the first month to 20 million last month and more than 40 million so far this month.

More than €11m worth of vouchers have been issued to customers who returned them.

On average over a year, five million drinks are sold in bottles and cans every day, however. So the numbers need to increase substantially to hit the target of collecting 77pc of plastic bottles next year and 90pc by 2029.

“On Wednesday, we had 1.9 million returned in 675,000 transactions, so we’re still only seeing roughly three items return per transaction,” Mr Smyth said. “In a mature scheme, that tends to be around 14 per transaction.”

The Irish Independent carried out an online survey to gather people’s experiences of the scheme. Of 1,594 people who visited a machine in the previous 10 days, 17pc found it was out of order.

Where the return point visited had more than one machine, 57pc found all the machines were working while 25pc said at least one was working.

Of the 1,320 people who said the machine they visited was working, 79pc said it accepted most of their empties, but 21pc said it did not.

Of people left with empties because the machine was not working or rejected them, 56pc said they put them in an ordinary recycling bin instead and 25pc said they stored them to bring them to another machine later. Nineteen per cent of frustrated customers put them in a general waste bin, going against the whole point of the scheme.

Most people (66pc) spent their return vouchers immediately in the store they visited, 23pc kept them to spend later, and 11pc reclaimed the cash at the till.

Among everyone surveyed, 55pc did not think the scheme was working well, 39pc thought it was and 6pc had no opinion.

Faith in the scheme plummeted among people who visited a broken machine, with 84pc of them saying the scheme was not working well.

The Irish Independent carried out the survey using an online tool on its website over two days last week, and it was also shared on our social media channels.

Respondents had to provide their name, email address and the location they visited. Percentages have been rounded up or down to the nearest per cent.

When asked for comments, the replies were mixed. Many expressed satisfaction with the scheme, but many also complained of machines being full, out of order and rejecting valid empties.

Some people reported visiting multiple locations with their recycling, only to find all the machines out of order.

They also hit out at having to store large volumes of uncrushed containers in small houses and apartments, and then having to transport them to the machines in order to reclaim their deposits.

Many questioned the need for the new system at all given that they already used their green bin, seeing it as a form of double taxation.

Some people in rural areas also complained of having to drive long distances to use a machine, only to find it unavailable.

Several took issue with being able to redeem the receipt only at the store where they returned their empties, with many suggesting it would be better to have the option to reclaim the deposit with an app or bank card, or to donate the deposit to charity.

A typical comment was: “When it works it’s great but it is so infuriating that machines are out of order quite frequently.”

Another said: “Great to see, very easy to use. Smooth rollout nationwide, which can’t have been easy. Think a lot of people struggle with change.”

Six companies are approved to supply RVMs to Ireland, but just two replied to requests to comment.

Andy Jacobs, of EcoVend, said while there had been some problems with RVMs, they were teething issues.

“Staff in stores are taking a while to understand exactly what to do as they are generally busy with day-to-day retailing,” he said.

“Wifi has been a common fault [the machines must connect to a centralised Re-turn system] and also consumers looking to deposit containers that pre-dated the DRS start date.

“These teething issues are normal when national schemes are introduced. Things will settle down.”

Another supplier, RVM Systems, said the scheme was very successful.

“We look forward to media such as yourselves running articles explaining to consumers as to how to correctly use the machines, thus clarifying any misunderstandings as to how they should be operated,” managing director David Kelly said.

Tesco, one of two supermarket chains to respond, said its machines had a 96pc availability rate, some early teething problems were diminishing and customer feedback was largely positive.

Aldi said it was always going to take some time for the system to bed in, but it was proving a great success.

Mr O’Byrne of Voice said efforts must continue to iron out all the issues identified. “Until the scheme is easy to use for everyone, it still has problems,” he said.

“Consumers are paying their 15c, we have no option, so we’re doing our part and it behoves the operators to make sure that there are no barriers whatsoever to getting that 15c back because in order for the system to be a success, people have to see the worth in it, that it’s working to the best of its ability and they’re not getting shafted.”

‘It’s a form of torture’

The respondents to our survey had plenty to say about the Deposit Return Scheme:

“The whole idea of having to drive to a machine to get rid of cans and bottles is only adding to my carbon footprint. Also a lot of stores are charging for bottles that don't have a return logo.”

"So far no rejected containers. 100pc success rate.”

“This system adds more work for me and my family with two children under two. To store unsquashed bottles takes up space in my small home and I have to drag my two children with me to a machine to return bottles that I previously always already recycled, using more petrol to get to return point and feeling like a beggar looking for my own money back.”

“I know of parents using it to incentivise kids to do chores (kids keep the money). It's making us more aware.”

“I have to drive at least 10km to the nearest machines and, when they don’t work, I have to go back again. Prior to this system, I drove 2km to do my recycling.”

"I think it is badly needed. Should have been brought in years ago. I'm beginning to see less of them on the side of the roads already.”

“The most annoying thing is the lingering odour of stale beer, and I suspect during the warmer months there’s likely to be flies as a result."

“My parents are elderly and do not drive. Maybe pensioners should be exempt from the tax, once they show their ID at the till in the shop? Or maybe the supermarket delivery man should accept them back and a discount applied to their next online shop?”

“I work in a hotel, I gather up a lot of cans and bottles with the logo and I have used these to buy ‘free’ power tools in Lidl with what would normally be just dumped.”

“Generally good except for shops raising prices as well as adding deposits, and also shops charging deposits on old stock without the logo.”

“It isn't a bad idea. It helps the homeless also and gives them the option of helping to clean up the streets in exchange for cash/food.”

“I work in a retail shop. The machine breaks down a lot. It takes up a lot of time to get it emptied and cleaned. We have staff shortages so we can't do it immediately. When people have cans or bottles that don't go in generally because they are damaged or not they dump them in our trolleys and plants even though we have a recycling bank on site.”

"Great to see, very easy to use. Smooth roll-out nationwide, which can’t have been easy. Think a lot of people struggle with change.”

“Machines are too unreliable. It's a form of torture.”

“I went into Dunnes Stores and bought a filter jug straight away after repeatedly putting bottles into the machine two or three times before the machine accepted them. I won't be buying bottled water any more.”

“I see lots of returnable bottles around the place. The bottles can't be squashed or damaged to reclaim the money, so if you are out and about, you literally have to keep that bottle safe in your bag till you get home.”

"There are issues but they are mostly individual shops causing problems, not emptying machines when full etc.”

“Never have I had a fully successful visit. Either the machine rejects bottles or cans with the logo or the machine is not operational. Complete and utter joke.”

“The 15 and 25 cents deposit is too small and my fear people will stop using the machines. More machines needed in GAA/church/recycling centres and options to donate deposit monies.”

“As someone with a disability, hauling bottles to a supermarket (I usually buy online) is difficult. I always recycled in my green bin. My life is harder from it and time wasted also.”

“Instead of placing the onus on the customer we should be adopting effective policies that eliminate plastic waste at its source and put the onus on the producer, not the consumer. All we've done is create a nice new industry for someone to pocket off of.”

“Out of 22 bottles I brought on Monday it took four and out of 17 cans it took eight. It is a joke. We pay for our bins with our waste company. When all our water bottles and our cans are gone, I'm going back to drinking tap water, it is the government who will look like clowns.”

Re-turn said the 86pc “up-time” it recorded was the “cumulative operational time of all machine” but it did not have the data to translate that into the number of machines working at any given time.