The new Deposit Return Scheme should help put people off buying plastic bottles, according to an Irish environmentalist.
From February 1st next year when people buy a bottle or can with the Re-turn logo they will pay a small deposit.
They will get that money back when the can or bottle is brought back to any shop or supermarket taking part in the scheme.
A deposit of 15c will apply to containers from 150ml to 500ml, and a deposit of 25c for containers over 500mls to three litres inclusive.
Ceara from the Extinction Rebellion environmental group told Lunchtime Live she hopes this change will discourage people from buying plastics.
"This is not the biggest solution for the problem because waste is still going to be generated," she said.
"It will hopefully encourage people to stop buying virgin plastics in the first place."
A can and bottle deposit return recycling system is seen in Norway in September 2020. Image: Jonathan Sumpton / Alamy Stock PhotoCeara said many people likely won't want the deposit back.
"I worked in Germany for a number of years and over there they have these bottle deposit collection points," she said.
"A lot of people aren't going to be concerned about getting that money back, so they'll just recycle it at home - this is what I found in Germany anyway.
"For people that do want to collect the bottles and bring them to the drop-off point, they do and they get a little receipt that's worth the money back.
"I'd be collecting the bottles and bringing them all back because it all adds up.
"There's a lot of people in Ireland who are kind of well off and won't be looking for that 15c.
"They'll just recycle the bottles and then they won't worry about the tax, it'll just be their price going up a little bit.
"Hopefully the people that will be partaking in that will be people who might not have been so thoughtful as to how they were recycling before."
Ceara said some people in Germany will leave their bottles and cans piled in parks for low-income people to collect later to get the money back.
An example of the Re-turn logo on plastic bottles. Image: re-turn.ieConsumer journalist Sinead Ryan told the show while anything that gets people recycling is good, the scheme is flawed.
"Most of us have a Green Bin which takes a lot of this stuff anyway," he said.
"The new scheme won't take glass bottles or cartons - like milk or juice cartons.
"It is a little bit complicated; you're going to have to remember some stuff and I think there's also going to be a little education needed around it".
'No obligation' on drink companies
Sinead said there is another onus on people to sort through their cans and bottles.
"If I have a Green Bin and all this stuff can go in my Green Bin, and I'm paying for my Green Bin... why wouldn't I just return it to the Green Bin?" she said.
"If I do that and that's fine, there's no problem with that, but I'm punished between 15c and 25c for having bought the item in the first place.
"There's no obligation on the retailer to do it and there's no obligation on the drink providers to do it.
"It only applies to particular plastics and cans which have this Re-turn logo on it.
"There's an extra job of work to do in sorting out the cans that have it, sorting out the cans that don't, bringing back the cans that do and all that".
Sinead said the scheme should be an "all or nothing" approach.
"You can hardly force massive drinks companies... [to] take out all of the stuff just for Ireland and relogo it - maybe they will?" she said.
"You're really then down to the Irish manufacturers of Ishka or Ballygowan to do this.
"Maybe they will and maybe they won't, but the point is the consumer's the one who's going to have to sort it all out," she added.
Only drinks in PET plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans from 150ml to three litres are included in the Deposit Return Scheme.
Dairy products, such as milk and yogurt drinks, are not included in the new scheme but can still be recycled.
