Dublin, Tuesday 12 December 2024: The holidays are upon us and Re-turn, operator of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme, is predicting the best days to return your plastic bottles and cans after Christmas, and the busiest days to avoid.
Three-quarters (76%) of the public bring back their plastic bottles and cans whilst doing the grocery shopping, and the busiest times for returning drinks containers are typically weekends, between 10 am and 12pm. With both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on a Wednesday, the weekend grocery trip trend is set to continue, and Saturday 28 December could see a surge in consumers returning their plastic bottle and cans as they head out shopping to restock the fridge.
For those in need of a reason to get out of the house and make a play for next year’s Nice List, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 December will likely be the best to get the job done while avoiding the queues.
To help make Christmas 2024 Ireland’s most sustainable yet, Re-turn has prepared a helpful list of dos and don’ts:
- Santa’s sack: Do set up a designated Re-turn bin and encourage guests at festive gatherings to dispose of their cans and plastic bottles in the assigned bin or bag. This ensures that all relevant items are collected in one spot and means less cleaning up for the host.
- Festive Returns: When returning your empty plastic bottles and cans, do let a member of retail staff know if the Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) is not working – the bin may be full, staff can empty it and help you get on your merry way!
- Empty containers: Do ensure your plastic bottles and cans are cleared of any liquids before returning them to your RVM. This means that all items are ready for recycling.
- No crushing: Don’t crush or squash your cans or bottles. RVMs and Manual Return Points need to read the drinks container barcode and Re-turn symbol.
- Season of giving: Do donate your plastic bottles and cans to a local charity or community initiative if you just can’t find the time to visit an RVM during the festivities.
- Santa’s helpers: Do get the full household involved in tracking all their returns. Children love to get involved in a bit of friendly competition over the holidays.
Re-turn has created an FAQ page on the website for any questions which consumers, retailers and producers may have, and they are strongly encouraged to reach out to info@re-turn.ie if they have any further queries.