Re-turn has announced that 400 million plastic bottles and cans have been returned since the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) launched on 1 February.
The operator of the DRS recorded the 400 millionth returned on Thursday 15 August.
Today’s announcement demonstrates the public’s growing support for the scheme snice its launch.
Re-turn reported over 3.97 million returns on Monday 12 August alone. This marked the highest number of daily returns so far.
This daily return total is almost double the 2 million returns in the entire month of February, the first month of the scheme.
During the summer overall, weekends were the most popular time for returns.
This was the case on 10 and 11 August, when consumers returned over 7.7 million plastic bottles and cans over the two-day weekend.
Speaking on the continued growth of the scheme, the chief executive of Re-turn Ciaran Foley said, “It is great to see the public’s support for the scheme and the volume of drinks containers returned in the first six months rise steadily.
“It has been an exciting summer, particularly with the launch of the ‘Return for Children’ initiative in support of six national children’s charities.
“By working with high-profile events like Electric Picnic, we are providing attendees an easy way to return their drinks containers, with the option of donating their deposits to a very worthy cause.
“Overall, recent research has found that we are also seeing a noticeable reduction in litter on the streets of Ireland as an immediate positive benefit of the scheme and we are excited to see it grow going forward.”
Return For Children
In June, Re-turn launched ‘Return for Children,’ which directly supports six national children’s charities.
The charities are Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack and Jill, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, and Make-A-Wish Ireland.
This weekend, festival-goers at Electric Picnic will have the option to donate their plastic bottles and cans to the initiative, helping to keep the event litter free while donating the deposits to the six children’s charities.
Re-turn is encouraging event organisers to get in touch at [email protected] to find out how to set up ‘Return for Children’ collections at their events.
Read More: Re-Turn Calls For Electric Picnic Attendees To ‘Return For Children’
