Over 20 million drink containers and cans collected since start of Deposit Return Scheme

The achievement was reached this Friday, on the same day when the scheme, named Re-turn, recorded its highest daily collection rate with over 1.2 million drink containers (1,267,178) returned.

The surge in collections underscores the public's increased participation and support for the scheme, which was launched on February 1.

Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn, said: “The support of consumers nationwide is really positive and as more Re-turn logo products enter circulation, we are seeing high return numbers that will only continue to grow as we all become more accustomed to the scheme.”

Over 2.2 million drink containers were collected during the St Patrick's weekend March 16 – 18, while Re-turn said Easter is shaping up to be another bank holiday weekend with “significant collection numbers”.

With 2,300 Reverse Vending Machines now operational across the country, Re-turn has facilitated over 6.89 million transactions.

The scheme was created due to 40pc of the economy’s drinks containers and cans not being collected in households, which results in 800 million containers that are not recycled each year.

It hopes to address the target the EU set for Ireland to separate and collect 77pc of plastic beverage bottles and aluminium cans by 2025.

This target will rise to 90pc in 2029, according to the EU.

Consumers receive their deposit back when they return the empty and undamaged plastic bottle or aluminium can, that incurred a deposit, to participating shops and supermarkets nationwide.

They are then issued a voucher that can be redeemed at the till against store purchases or as a cash refund.

At this early stage, Re-turn's said its performance is tracking well against similar deposit return schemes in the EU.

Slovakia, with a scheme launched in January 2022, serves as a close benchmark due to “comparable models and population sizes”.

In its first month, Slovakia collected 264,000 containers, while Ireland returned 2 million.

By their second month, Slovakia had reached 8 million containers, a figure Ireland surpassed with over 10 million containers by March 18, highlighting the scheme's early success.

“The Scheme, which is a pivotal part of Ireland’s strategy to meet and exceed EU recycling targets, has seen a significant uptake in participation, setting a positive trajectory for future collections and environmental impact,” Mr Foley added.

To locate the nearest deposit return point, individuals can visit the Re-turn 'Where To Return' map.