Over 900 million bottles and cans have been received through the Deposit Return Scheme

The deposit return operator Re-Turn said it is "absolutely delighted" with the number of bottles and cans received.

The scheme, which was introduced in February 2024, adds the cost of a deposit to drink bottles and cans.

The deposit costs between 15-25c depending on the size of the can or bottle.

Consumers can then bring the empty containers back to designated machines where they receive the deposit back in the form of a voucher.

Re-Turn said on some dates in December the number of bottles and cans received was over 5 million.

Machines

The company's Head of Marketing and Communications Niamh Kelly, said the number of machines have increased since the scheme launched last year.

"We keep looking at what's working," Ms Kelly said.

"We've gone from 1,800 RVMs at launch to now over 2,500.

"Obviously we want to provide consumers with as much convenience as possible - so where we can we'll increase the coverage and where it's required we'll increase the coverage."

The scheme was introduced to make reusing and recycling more effective.

Feature image: A person returns cans through a vending machine.