Going Green: Do we need a Digital Deposit Return Scheme?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Going green. On the Clare Burns Show. With Repack. Supporting 3,500 businesses nationwide in optimising packaging, reducing waste and valuing resources.
We have the return scheme, which I know you're all familiar with, but do we need a digital deposit return scheme? It had been previously proposed by the Irish Waste Management Association. It wasn't brought in, but should it be considered in the future and how might it work? Conor Walsh is here, Secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association. Conor, hello. So it was you guys who suggested this in the first place, but it didn't fly, did it not?
Yeah, there was a lot of work done on it, actually, in the UK and in Ireland. There were trials done in Northern Ireland and Wales, and we did our own trial here in Dublin. So, you know, we feel it's the better way to go into the future. Look, I'm not here to say anything negative about the return scheme. I think it's been... It's done really, really well. You know, we were collecting cans and bottles in our recycling bins, and we were getting about 50% of those were being put in those bins, and we were recycling that.
What is a Digital Deposit Return Scheme and why is it being discussed now?
But now... There's like 91, 92% being recycled between the return scheme and what we still have in our recycling bins. And, you know, when it is put in the recycling bin, it does get recycled in the exact same way.
OK, so it is, the scheme is working. But are your members at a loss now because you're not recycling those bottles and cans?
Yeah, we are. But at the same time, look, I'm not here to say anything really about that because, you know, that's been sorted in a different way. But ultimately, you know, the country needed a DRS because every country in Europe needs one under EU law. If we can't achieve 90% recycling of beverage, single-use beverage, plastic and metal containers by 2029... we have to have a DRS by 2029. That's a deposit return scheme. Absolutely, yeah.
You're not arguing with its existence.
No.
Because people will be listening to this and wondering, well, are the waste management companies saying that it should maybe operate in a different way because they want a slice of the pie? So just take that on for me, head on.
Yeah, absolutely. We don't because, look, it's not going to change. I mean, all the machines, two and a half thousand machines put into supermarkets, the supermarkets have to get the material in order to pay for those. We don't see that that's going to change. And that's not what we're saying here. But look, the reality is we need to increase recycling rates of all the materials. It's not just those particular materials. And a lot of other materials are not suitable for that kind of system.
What evidence from trials in Dublin, Northern Ireland and Wales supports a digital DRS?
So... If you think about milk as an example, or your shampoo bottles or tins of beans or whatever, we need to recycle all those things. Milk is a good example because it comes in two types. HDP, which is a form of plastic, the plastic milk bottles that you see, they're different from the beverage ones. It's a harder plastic, a thicker plastic. But we're recycling that plastic in Ireland. We've a full bottle to bottle plant in County Tyrone recycling that back into milk bottles.
And that goes into my recycling bin.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Just rinsed out, hopefully. But, you know.
How has the current physical return scheme impacted beverage recycling rates?
We do our best. And it also comes in Tetra Pak, which is recyclable as well. So, you know, just a simple example would be to have a digital system for recycling those materials at home. But you have a deposit return scheme at home or at work. It doesn't need to be it doesn't need to go anywhere near the supermarkets. And I don't think the supermarkets want them anyway, you know, because milk may have a bit of an over.
But is the system not working as it is at the moment where you rinse them and put them into your recycling bin, those things?
Yeah, it is. But I would assume that we're still, we don't know what tonnage, what recycling rate we're getting, but we're not getting 90%. And look, we could get 90%, 95%. And the way to do it is, if I just go through it fairly quickly, the container will have to have a QR code printed onto the label, which is totally doable.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:08
2
What is a Digital Deposit Return Scheme and why is it being discussed now?
1:08–2:38
3
What evidence from trials in Dublin, Northern Ireland and Wales supports a digital DRS?
2:38–3:09
4
How has the current physical return scheme impacted beverage recycling rates?
3:09–9:17
5
Why do waste managers propose a home-based digital DRS for items like milk and Tetra Pak?
9:17–11:30
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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