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Bottles via Shutterstock

Poll: Would you welcome a refund scheme for empty bottles and cans?

A Labour Party councillor has called for a cash for cans and bottles scheme to help curb illegal dumping.

TO HELP CURB illegal dumping a Labour Party councillor has called for an introduction of  a refund deposit scheme for alcohol containers.

Thomas Redmond from Athy told TheJournal.ie that he was inspired by similar schemes in place like Germany where people can return their bottles or cans to a specific centre or location and receive a small amount of cash in return, between 10c and 25c.

study on a deposit and return system for bottles in Ireland was published by Repak in 2008 showed that it would be costly and and would mean higher retail prices. It also showed it would be expensive to set up because Ireland would have to do so from scratch, rather than building on an existing system.

So today we want to know what do you think? Would you welcome a refund deposit scheme for your empty bottles and cans?


Poll Results:

Yes (2751)
No (2355)
I don't know (182)

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112 Comments
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    Mute Sneachtaitall
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    May 7th 2013, 10:41 AM

    The kids will love it, we did.

    Pocket money, exercise and an environmental awareness.

    Education at it’s finest.

    446
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    Mute Seamus West
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    May 7th 2013, 11:10 AM

    There used to be such a system here before.
    I remember bringing bottles to a local shop and getting my payment. Then, our ‘gang’ used to take the bottles from the back of the same shop and get paid again. It was recycling on the double!!
    Some would say that I have since become a more reformed character.

    198
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    Mute P1
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    May 7th 2013, 11:28 AM

    There was a recent scheme here in Galway too but don’t know if it still operates and the money was crap!

    10
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    Mute Róisín Ní Dhonnabháin
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    May 7th 2013, 11:30 AM

    I’m pretty sure when I worked in bars and clubs in Galway that you always returned unbroken bottles to distributors, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it works in other countries and would be a great idea in Ireland!

    55
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    Mute Sneachtaitall
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    May 7th 2013, 11:31 AM

    It needs to be 10 or 15 cent a bottle at least, add it to the cost of the drink.

    The more money the cleaner the environment.

    49
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    Mute P1
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    May 7th 2013, 11:35 AM

    Ah ya the publicans and hotels return all their empties and still do but I think we’re on about Joe Soap here and the few bottles he has at home!

    36
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    Mute Valerie Sweeney
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    May 7th 2013, 11:42 AM

    We did the same! The little lemonade bottles…oh, the joy of finding one lodged in the river or in a bin. We’d be up to the shop like a shot. 2 pennies bought a lot back then!

    56
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    Mute Valerie Sweeney
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    May 7th 2013, 11:42 AM

    We did the same! The little lemonade bottles…oh, the joy of finding one lodged in the river or in a bin. We’d be up to the shop like a shot. 2 pennies bought a lot back then!

    14
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    Mute Rick MacRory
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    May 7th 2013, 12:00 PM

    Could you imagine the mess around the outside of the shops. Please don’t tell me it’s the shopkeepers concern as such a measure would be forced on them. It’s just kicking the can….so to speak.

    10
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    Mute Sneachtaitall
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    May 7th 2013, 12:21 PM

    The 42% are todays kids saying;

    no fcuking way!

    13
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    Mute Nellie Oneill
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    May 7th 2013, 1:43 PM

    I’d like the government would get rid of the town council so we wouldn’t have to listen to Thomas Redmond
    I take it we all want to pay mire for bottles and cans

    3
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    Mute Emer Sugrue
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    May 7th 2013, 10:42 AM

    I’ve used this system in Denmark and Germany, it works very well. In Dusseldorf people just leave empty bottles on the ground and homeless people collect them to get the money. The streets are spotless there.

    191
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    Mute Hannah Marie
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    May 7th 2013, 10:49 AM

    Ya I used it when living in Köln and I thought it was fantastic idea, especially around carnival time to keep the streets clean, plus the fact that you refunded the bottles through a machine in a shop, e.g. Lidil and instead of being paid cash you are then given a voucher that you can then use against your shopping in the shop

    112
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    Mute General Lee Specific
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    May 7th 2013, 11:08 AM

    The homeless scenario is what I really like about it.
    If a person isn’t bothered to carry the empty bottle with them, and forfeit the 25c, then a homeless person has the chance to find it, whether it is in the bin or on the street.

    Makes for really clean streets :)

    80
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    Mute The Polar Bear
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    May 7th 2013, 11:20 AM

    Treasure hunt for the homeless

    42
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    Mute Pee Jay Walsh
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    May 7th 2013, 7:15 PM

    How could the streets be spotless if they are choc-a-bloc with discarded bottles?

    2
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    Mute Stephen Mc Elligott
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    May 7th 2013, 10:39 AM

    Saw it at work in Denmark. I think it should apply not just to cans but to plastic bottles as well like hey do in Denmark. The streets over there are immaculate and very clean.

    124
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    Mute Marshmallow O Brien
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    May 7th 2013, 12:40 PM

    * they

    wooooooo hooooooo

    Marshamllow !!!!!!

    8
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    Mute Elizabeth Gibson
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    May 7th 2013, 12:48 PM

    *marshmallow

    Wool hooo ;)

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    Mute Elizabeth Gibson
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    May 7th 2013, 12:49 PM

    *wooo

    Feck :(

    26
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    Mute Con Kennedy
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    May 7th 2013, 10:38 AM

    You mean like refunded deposit they had in the olden days?

    95
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    Mute Alan Burke
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    May 7th 2013, 10:41 AM

    Yes. I have about 300 cans already from the canal bank this morning. If I can get 25c each then I’m a happy camper.

    Also the environment is a bit cleaner.

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    Mute Paul Ibbs
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    May 7th 2013, 10:38 AM

    Definitely – anything that brings a bit extra in…

    80
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    Mute Dave Murray
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    May 7th 2013, 10:46 AM

    You pay an extra 10c or 25c per bottle at the checkout and then you get refunded that same 10c or 25c when you return it for recycling.
    So, just in case anyone is confused, it’s just an organised way to get customers to recycle.

    138
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    Mute Lizzy Anne
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    May 7th 2013, 10:55 AM

    Reuse, not recycle, a much more sensible system when possible. Is anyone surprised that Rapak doesn’t approve. It reminds me of the annual articles where school uniform shops are asked if uniforms are a good idea.

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    Mute Begrudgy
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    May 7th 2013, 11:11 AM

    Nothing wrong with that Dave.

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    Mute ManOnTheStreet
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    May 7th 2013, 11:13 AM

    It would be a help in getting children to recycle from a young age and keeping up the habit. Let them keep whatever they collect. Good idea.

    33
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    Mute Sneachtaitall
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    May 7th 2013, 11:33 AM

    Lizzy,

    RaTak more like

    3
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    Mute Sinabhfuil
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    May 7th 2013, 10:44 AM

    Met a young homeless man on a subway in New York. He had a huge plastic bag full of flattened aluminium cans (or aluminum, as he would have said), and was going to cash them in to get the refund. Said he was getting by, just, by collecting them.

    71
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    Mute James Quirke
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    May 7th 2013, 10:50 AM

    Anyone who’s ever been to the continent will know that this is an excellent system for incentivising people to recycle and not litter,it doesnt stop all littering but it reduces it massively. People out walking even collect cans and bottle as they go.
    I studied for 6 months in Norway and they had a system like this myself and a mate used to go out and collect cans for maybe an hour a week just to make money to buy drink made roughly €6 an hour doing it which wasn’t bad for students, plus its a way for the homeless to make some sort of income if they wanna.

    69
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    Mute James Ó Cianáin
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    May 7th 2013, 10:06 PM

    Yes it’s sensible! I’ve been asking why we have not been doing this for years!!!

    We just don’t do sensible things in this country!

    8
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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    May 7th 2013, 10:42 AM

    We used to have this years ago. Children were sent down to the local shop with their empty minerals bottles and the money they got was their pocket money! Was only talking about this yesterday with some friends and saying what a brilliant idea it would be to reinstate this. Milk came in bottles (much nicer than in Tetrapacks) and the empties were collected and sterilised in the dairy for reuse.

    49
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    Mute Niall Mullins
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    May 7th 2013, 10:47 AM

    I live in Sweden where they have a fantastic return system in place. Small bottles and cans return ca €0.10, large soft plastic bottles (ie 2l coke) return ca €0.20 and hard plastic bottles return ca €0.40. This price is built into the retail price at time of purchase and refunded on return so there’s no need for retail prices to be affected. Nor should it be expensive to implement in anyway. It will in fact produce a profit for the government on the scrap metal value of the aluminium. If it’s implemented in the right way it can be a fantastic scheme both for the environment and for profitable reasons. But if the history of our governments is anything to go by the whole thing would be done through backhanders and handed away like everything else. This scheme was in place for glass bottles in Ireland up until the late 80s and was scrapped by the then government instead of building on it then.

    45
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    Mute Aoife Moloney
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    May 7th 2013, 10:43 AM

    I’m currently living in Copenhagen, where such a system exists, and with great success. The streets are practically litter-free, and although this can be put down to Scandanavian efficiency, the refund scheme definitely helps. Last week I attended an international worker’s day celebration along with thousands of others in a park in the city, where there were groups of kids going around with black sack collecting used cans and bottles as a form of extra pocket money…and they were delighted to do so, as well as saving the local authorities money in having to hire cleaners and waste removal. It’s definitely a system worth trying, and higher retail prices are simply viewed here as a deposit on the container.

    42
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    Mute John Cotter
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    May 7th 2013, 11:08 AM

    Aoife, you go to any event like that in Ireland and the kids wouldn’t be so inclined to do that. You would have groups hanging around drinking themselves acting the maggot. And if there was money to be made you would have a certain group of youths intimidating the others and cornering the market themselves. Like a young Tony Suprano.

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    May 7th 2013, 4:04 PM

    @ John – then the things you list should have happened in countries that have a bottle deposit scheme. They haven’t.

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    Mute Dave McFadden
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    May 7th 2013, 10:44 AM

    Works in nearly every other European country, great way to encourage recycling!! Google how the German Pfand scheme works if anybody is interested !

    40
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    Mute Daniel Murray
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    May 7th 2013, 10:42 AM

    It’s the same in Finland too, but the bottles/cans/ cost more and in order to get the money back you have to return them. I would just be worried that retailers would just jump at the chance to add on their own few cents like they did when the Euro came in.

    34
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    Mute jackass ireland
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    May 7th 2013, 11:36 AM

    Repak doesn’t like competition. Ireland is at the complete opposite end of the scale of what a return programme could offer. Instead of people returning glass bottles, we’re expected to pack them up, drive them to a recycling drop off point, AND sort them by colour for the recycler. All for free. They must be laughing their arses off everyday in the office at us.

    33
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    Mute tom
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    May 7th 2013, 9:17 PM

    another tax that will push up the price.

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    Mute Alan Burke
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    May 7th 2013, 10:46 AM

    Whi said no to this?

    28
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    Mute Steve O'Connor
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    May 7th 2013, 11:19 AM

    “If implemented the right way” as a lot of you are saying, it would be a great idea, but we should never underestimate the Irish government ability to fukc up a great idea no matter how many examples of it working well can be found elsewhere in Europe.

    So can we please get whoever did the Dublin Bikes to work this one out. Thanks.

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    Mute Declan Harman
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    May 7th 2013, 10:43 AM

    Good idea and if it’s passed I want a back dated refund from all waste collection companies for profiteering of my junk for years.

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    Mute Tony Le Blanc
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    May 7th 2013, 11:07 AM

    A similar scheme was running in the Netherlands when I lived there in the 90′s. We (a group of 11 lads in our early 20′s) were making our way through an astonishing amount of beer. We would leave crates full of empties at the street corner each Monday and people who were living rough could take them to the local supermarket and get credits they could use in store for food etc.

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    Mute Pól Ó Briain
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    May 7th 2013, 10:52 AM

    Works great in Germany

    18
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    Mute Brian Daly
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    May 7th 2013, 10:41 AM

    Repak have a vested interest here. At the moment they are getting their raw material for free.

    I like the idea of the refund but the cost of administrating it would probably outweigh the advantages.

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    Mute General Lee Specific
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    May 7th 2013, 11:00 AM

    If I pay an extra 25c at the till and get 25c back when I give the bottle back then REPAK have got the bottle back for free, they are not paying me. Currently they only get the ‘free’ bottles back if I put it in a recycling bin.

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    Mute Jonathan Mark Lannon
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    May 7th 2013, 10:47 AM

    They do it in Australia. I thought it was people looking for food thinking, land of hopes a s dreams, really? I then found out the recycling system.
    It works well, you couldn’t really make a living out of it but definitely helps.

    14
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    Mute shane dempsey
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    May 7th 2013, 10:45 AM

    Fantastic idea!

    14
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    Mute Fiona Murphy
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    May 7th 2013, 11:59 AM

    Shane that is the cutest profile pic ( totally off the topic) on it though we have that system in Norway and it works great homeless people collect them . Then when you go to cash them in you can press a button for the refund or to donate to the red cross which enters you in an instant lottery so u can win up to 100 quid .

    17
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    Mute Victoria Smith
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    May 7th 2013, 10:59 AM

    Works everywhere in the world, why Ireland is different? Great idea!

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    Mute Andrew Matheson
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    May 7th 2013, 11:13 AM

    Works well in the states, also gives homeless people a small opportunity to generate income for basics such as food etc.

    You see it quite a lot in LA where homeless people collect bottles out of bins and off beaches etc to make a few dollars.

    Might also reduce some litter, they should do it with cans and plastic bottles as well and make manufactures incorporate some of the refund charges in their pricing structure

    11
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    Mute Eoin Hegarty
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    May 7th 2013, 11:02 AM

    Totally agree, i’ve witnessed it at work in both Germany and Holland, but it should include all bottles and cans, not just alcohol.

    11
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    Mute Eoin Hegarty
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    May 7th 2013, 11:07 AM

    That is; plastic, aluminium and glass containers

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    Mute Leon Taylor
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    May 7th 2013, 10:40 AM

    No.

    10
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    Mute Aaron
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    May 7th 2013, 1:03 PM

    Excellent arguement. You’ve totally changed my mind.

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    Mute The Dali Lamb Roll
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    May 7th 2013, 10:59 AM

    Maybe all rubbish should have a return deposit.
    I’d love to see some kind of retail card, where all packaging serial numbers are traced to the producer – distributer – retailer… And purchaser. Illegal dumping would disappear over night.

    10
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    Mute Sean Mc Donnell
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    May 7th 2013, 10:44 AM

    Pity the glass bottle factory had to close down!!!!!

    9
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    Mute Lieutenant Worf
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    May 7th 2013, 10:57 AM

    Absolutely. Anything for the kids to be active doing something and a little money in it for them.
    Also would encourage street drinkers not to just leave their naggins on the street possibly.

    9
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    Mute Eric Davies
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    May 7th 2013, 11:01 AM

    repak are just trying to put people off the idea so as they can keep getting these items for free, as usual in ireland someone comes up with a good sound ecological idea and some other begrudger has to try and make a million out of it . a lot of dumping would be stopped if the local council didn’t charge so much for going to the dump, 40 euro last week for 2 cardboard boxs filled with stuff and a couple of binbags.

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    Mute Alan Burke
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    May 7th 2013, 11:07 AM

    Where was that Eric?

    I know in Ballymount you can dump a family car full (approx 4 wheelie bins) for €15.

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    Mute cholly appleseed
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    May 7th 2013, 11:48 AM

    You haven’t breally done your math, Re pak would still get it for free and I don’t have a problem with it. It’s good for the environment as recycling increases probably 10 fold. If you pay a 10c deposit and get 10c back. I don’t see who is profiting

    3
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    Mute Trish Walsh
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    May 7th 2013, 10:54 AM

    They do it The Netherlands the last time I was there & they used to do it New York so why not here

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    Mute Sean Devanny
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    May 7th 2013, 10:54 AM

    Yes good idea did someone in the Labour Party wake up from a long sleep, as we used to collect bottles from the hedges years ago for pocket money……… don’t tell the tax man :). and why not take people of the dole to administer the collection. cleaner Ireland and shorter dole line not bad for a bank holiday Tuesday

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    Mute Chris Day
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    May 7th 2013, 11:00 AM

    I like this notion of a Bank Holiday Tuesday…. Please….. tell me more.

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    Mute Niall Mullins
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    May 7th 2013, 11:27 AM

    I’ll get back to sweden again… unfortunately that’s one of the downsides here. If a bank holiday falls on a Tuesday then you get the tuesday off and nothing else. If it falls on the weekend then tough. No Monday in lieu like at home. You want a long weekend here it’s coming from your paid leave. Nice for employers. Not much for employees. :(

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    Mute Frank Brady
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    May 7th 2013, 10:46 AM

    In the old days we bought our bottles back they were inspected for damage,sterilized and reused .today we melt them down at least the ones that are not polluting our land

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    Mute Brian Daly
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    May 7th 2013, 1:51 PM

    It does work well in Germany where most cities will have a local brewery who can take their own bottles back in and reuse them. Mind you, I have seen pubs sorting bottles here so perhaps there is some reuse.

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    May 7th 2013, 4:08 PM

    Yep – In Germany the beer bottles are steam-cleaned and reused. No costly melting down. It has the added advantage of making bottled beer more common than canned beer. Snob value aside, beer drunk straight from a glass bottle is always far nicer than from a can, IMHO.

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    Mute Robert Kenny
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    May 7th 2013, 1:16 PM

    I recently lived in Toronto where they have a refund return system for used bottles and cans. Because of this system they had a 97% recycling rate for alchohol bottles and cans. It was very rare that you would get broken bottles in the street and rare that you see empty cans littering the streets. I think Ireland would benefit greatly from a scheme like this.

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    Mute Colin Davenport
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    May 7th 2013, 11:06 AM

    40% no on the poll? Why not? Anyone?

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    Mute Joseph Molloy
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    May 7th 2013, 11:17 AM

    @colin The 44% answering no are the culprits dumping the cans and bottles along country roads, and binge drinking in fields….

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    Mute Dave Murray
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    May 7th 2013, 11:50 AM

    I voted “yes” but…

    I suspect most of the the people who voted “no” are probably just happy to continue being environmentally aware by putting their used plastic bottles in their green wheelie bin [especially older people, people with disabilities, etc., who may find it inconvenient to get to a supermarket to redeem their deposit].

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    Mute Sneachtaitall
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    May 7th 2013, 12:13 PM

    The 40% is the kids saying;

    no fcuking way!

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    Mute Danny Barclay
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    May 7th 2013, 11:40 AM

    In Holland the coke bottles for return/refund were made of thicker plastic and able to be cleaned & refilled for resale (correct me if I’m wrong?). Perhaps there is the problem here that we don’t have these thicker plastic bottles in the system and there is no benefit of returned thin plastic ones (other than for melting down)?

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    Mute Danny Barclay
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    May 7th 2013, 12:14 PM

    What’s with the dislikes? – I’m all for recycling, just pointing out there might be a high cost in setting up in Ireland if the thick bottles are needed. If it can be done I will be taking my glass & plastic bottles back to the supermarket in my otherwise empty shopping bags & getting a few bob off the groceries.
    Perhaps link it so you have the option of donating to charity at the till

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    Mute Donal Rafferty
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    May 7th 2013, 11:19 AM

    Works at Electric Picnic, its a bit of a no brainer this one.

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    Mute Joseph Molloy
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    May 7th 2013, 11:13 AM

    About time the refund on plastic and glass bottles was reintroduced…… It’s operational all over majority of EU countries….. I can recalled many a childhood running around asking people if they were finished with their bottles to collect 2p or 5p depending on the size from local shop or pubs… one good thing is if this was made available again there be less bags of bottles, cans thrown in ditches all over the country.

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    Mute martin o donoghue
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    May 7th 2013, 10:41 AM

    Kids would be breaking in shops and climbing walls to get cans and bottles not a good idea dis refund policy

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    Mute Jonathan Mark Lannon
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    May 7th 2013, 10:43 AM

    I really hope sarcasm is at play!! Lol

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    Mute Dawn Winter
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    May 7th 2013, 10:49 AM

    I never broke into any shops or endangered myself nor did any of my friends when they had something like this years ago. My husband is from Detroit (a city that has one of the highest crime rates in America), they have a scheme similar to this there and kids don’t do that there either. Heaven forbid the kids put down the video game controllers and get some fresh air.

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    Mute Ann Marie Redmond
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    May 7th 2013, 3:32 PM

    Residing here on the continent, all I can say it is an excellent idea. It saves the environment, increases environmental awareness, allows those less privileged to earn a little without having to beg and increases the attractiveness of a city. You return not just beer bottles, cans but also those used for soft drinks. You also have the option of donating your deposit to the local Caritas organisation. All in all an excellent R.O.I.

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    Mute Chris D'Alton
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    May 7th 2013, 11:55 AM

    Anyone who voted no does not know what they are talking about !!! This system works really well in Australia and encourages people to recycle! It’s also a handy way of making a few quid at festivals etc…

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    Mute Nelly Bergman
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    May 7th 2013, 11:44 AM

    “It also showed it would be expensive to set up because Ireland would have to do so from scratch, rather than building on an existing system.”
    What is this statement supposed to mean? I hope it’s taken out of context, because on its own it’s the bear doing his deed in the woods….

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    Mute Ciaran Foley
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    May 7th 2013, 11:08 AM

    In the long-term this would benefit the country, if the correct system was implemented

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    Mute Donncha Burke
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    May 7th 2013, 1:35 PM

    I live in Germany and I think it’s great, stockpile 3 crates of empty beer bottles and you can use them to purchase a full one…

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    Mute Darach Ó Ruairc
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    May 7th 2013, 3:54 PM

    If you go to a music festival in Germany you never see leftover bottles.. The system works

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    Mute Joe Pierse
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    May 7th 2013, 12:16 PM

    In college at the moment and I’d say we have a small fortune resting in our kitchen. The sooner this comes in the better!

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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 7th 2013, 11:40 AM

    Absolutely – sure didn’t all the lucozade bottles that were left out the back of Letterkenny General hospital feed a load of Ballyboe kids out of John Dunne’s shop for years?

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    Mute Bríghid Ní Longaigh
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    May 7th 2013, 11:44 AM

    Availed of a scheme like this in California a few Summers ago – great incentive to recycle! Was applied to beverage containers, and the amount refundable was printed on the label of the bottle/ can/ container – between 5c and 20c or thereabouts!

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    Mute Joseph Colclough
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    May 7th 2013, 11:50 AM
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    Mute Robert Ferguson
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    May 7th 2013, 2:23 PM

    Good idea but Roma Gypsies will be stealing from bottle and tin bins for money ?

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    Mute James Ó Cianáin
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    May 7th 2013, 10:19 PM

    Who cares?

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    Mute James Ó Cianáin
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    May 7th 2013, 10:20 PM

    I would rather they collect bottles from bins than beg!

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    May 7th 2013, 12:27 PM

    Should the question not be whether people would be happy if a deposit scheme was re-introduced?

    Echoes of ripping up tram lines and then laying new track on the same route for the LUAS not so many decades after..

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    Mute Kevin Landers
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    May 7th 2013, 12:26 PM

    Lived in Germany for a bit, great scheme. The cost is passed on to the retail price of each bottle but if people have a problem with that….. Just bring back the bottles. Minimal effort required!

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    Mute Susan Lloyd
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    May 7th 2013, 2:33 PM

    Ahh i remember bringing back the ole tk lemonade bottles to the shop! Those were the days!

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    Mute sean de paore
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    May 7th 2013, 12:56 PM

    Can’t understand the volume of no’s on this one. I already shift bottles and cans from a house my kids stay at as well as my own. I’m kinda soft like that ! Anyway They may decide to change their ways with an incentive like this.

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    Mute Susan Corscadden
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    May 7th 2013, 1:33 PM

    Definitely- works very well in Canada. A lot of the homeless collect them and recycle them for cash.

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    Mute Christine Astrospirit Klein
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    May 7th 2013, 1:31 PM

    Oh yea absolutely! FIrst of all this is how Recycling starts in the head and responsibility and it would be great for Kids too to bring them back and get a few bobs for it. I think thats a great idea, Education starts here!!!

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    Mute Dave Reilly
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    May 8th 2013, 10:11 AM

    I used to live in Nuremberg, and thought the system was a great success. Streets were clean, even during the town festivals. Would be nice if the streets would be clean after St. Patrick’s day if we had something like this.

    Only problem I ever had with it though was the prices were misleading to a foreigner like me, where the price of something might say €1.10 it was actually €1.25, so if the marked up post deposit price was displayed I would have absolutely no problem with this.

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    Mute Alan Burke
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    May 7th 2013, 1:52 PM

    Where are all these no voters?

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    Mute Dave Murray
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    May 7th 2013, 2:17 PM

    I’d say they are probably just ordinary people who are happy to use their green wheelie bin to recycle their plastic bottles.
    Or old people/people with disabilities who might find it very difficult to bring a bag of bottles to a supermarket every week to claim back their deposits?

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    Mute Alan Madden
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    May 8th 2013, 12:57 AM

    Who responds ‘I don’t know’? Seriously! If you don’t have an opinion you shouldn’t vote. Silly option.

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    Mute Deirdre Moroney
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    May 7th 2013, 11:48 PM

    Currently living in Norway and it works really well here and has done for years … You pay extra up front on all plastic bottles and cans and then when you bring back you get this refunded .. Also gives option to donate to Red Cross …

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    Mute Cllr Thomas Redmond
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    May 15th 2013, 6:25 PM

    i honestly cant believe that people would vote against this and at the council meeting tonight i will be in favour of it and pushing it . its working abroad and could work here so if not why not………and i dont think we should stop with beer bottles all glass and all cans should be able to be recycled in this manner

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    Mute Pablo
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    May 7th 2013, 12:03 PM

    Would the money that remained unclaimed go to charity or what would happen to it?

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    Mute Adrian Cronin
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    May 7th 2013, 12:36 PM

    This was in place years ago when I was a kid. It was a good idea then and a great idea now. I’ve seen it work well in Denmark. It’s easy to setup and the public would love it I think.

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    Mute Keith Curtis
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    May 7th 2013, 2:01 PM

    Somebody asked who voted no to this- Well I did and here’s why. This is a call for a scheme for alcohol containers. Why limit a potentially brilliant scheme to drunks? Typically Irish solution thats why. I would fully support this if it was a sceme for all cans and bottles but it’s not. And personnaly I dont think it’s a great idea to be encouiraging kids to go around collecting all the empty dutch gold cans from the lanes and fields. Grow up from the obsession with alcohol, make a proper sceme to encourage kids to return all their empty cans of minerals, not a load of empty cans of beer they found down the lane on the ground next a used needle, and then i’d support it. Not some half-ass sceme targeted to drunks and not where it should be.

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    Mute James Ó Cianáin
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    May 7th 2013, 10:24 PM

    There are very few places you can find needles in Dublin.

    I know it does happen but it’s rare.

    I wouldn’t be put off this scheme just for this reason, how carful do you want to be!?

    It works in every other country that does it and I’m very optimistic it will work here!

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    Mute Henry Sanner
    Favourite Henry Sanner
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    May 7th 2013, 5:56 PM

    won’t happen cause it makes sense.
    as long as they keep making stupid decisions and don’t break the pattern they can at least claim consistency :/

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    Mute Alan Kenna
    Favourite Alan Kenna
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    May 7th 2013, 12:21 PM

    They have this scheme in Lithuania? It works very well

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