Press Release: Saturday, 1 February 2025
- 980 million bottles and cans have been returned across Ireland since the scheme was launched one year ago, with Irish campaigners hailing significant reductions in drinks litter.
- Environmentalists and politicians are backing the UK government’s plans to replicate the Irish deposit return scheme to reduce litter and boost recycling.
- Circular Economy experts Reloop are supporting governments, NGOs, trade associations and businesses to introduce a deposit return scheme in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in October 2027.
On February 1st 2024, the Irish deposit return scheme (DRS) was introduced. In just one year, almost one billion plastic bottles and cans have been returned and recycled. Now, environmentalists and businesses are backing the UK Government’s commitment for the scheme to be replicated across the UK to support the fight against litter.
Keep Britain Tidy, the Marine Conservation Society, and circular economy experts Reloop are among the organisations welcoming progress on the scheme. Reloop provides data, system design expertise and analysis to governments, NGOs, trade associations and businesses. Reloop’s Global Deposit Book has found that the median return rate for European countries with a deposit return system is 89%, with Germany showing the best results at 98%.
Supporters of a deposit system are already seeing exciting progress. Just last week, the UK Parliament legislated for the introduction of a similar scheme in England, and Northern Ireland in October 2027. Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh MP promised that the scheme would “clean up Britain and end the throwaway society” adding that it was “a vital step as we stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up our streets, rivers and oceans and protect our treasured wildlife”.
In Ireland, a survey by Irish Business Against Litter, a coalition of businesses fighting littering, found that the Deposit Return Scheme had led to a 35 per cent reduction in the number of Irish towns being described as “littered”.
Figures released by Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications showed that 980 million bottles and cans had been returned since the scheme was introduced. This has been aided by a network of “reverse vending machines” and there are now 2,600 nationwide, as well as nearly 500 manual return points.
Across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, consumers buy an estimated 30 billion single-use drinks containers each year – including 12 billion plastic drinks bottles and 13 billion drinks cans. Under the upcoming UK scheme, consumers would be able to bring these used plastic bottles and cans back to retailers and receive a deposit back for doing so.
The need for a deposit return system in the UK was recently made clear by the discovery of 2,700 pieces of litter discarded in the Snowdon National Park. Some 30 billion single-use drink containers are purchased in the UK each year with only between 70-75 per cent being collected. This means billions of bottles and cans are being sent to rot in landfills.
Conor Horgan, spokesman for Irish Business Against Litter, said:
“Our surveys in 2024 of cities and towns across Ireland showed that the DRS has led to an immediate and significant drop in the amount of cans and plastic bottles on our streets. We hope the scheme’s success will spur the government into implementing further legislative measures needed to bring out a step change in cleanliness in our country.”
Colin O’Byrne, of VOICE Ireland, an environmental charity, said:
“Although we’re very much at the beginning of our DRS journey in Ireland, VOICE is delighted to see how quickly the return of bottles and cans has become second nature to Irish people. The secret to its success is its simplicity. Bringing our empties with us when we go shopping is just something that we do. We get our deposits back, and we’re working towards getting a cleaner environment back, too”.
Sarah Horner, Reloop, UK and Ireland Director, said:
“We were delighted to see the deposit return scheme regulations pass through the UK Parliament last week and fully support the next steps to kick off the scheme, which will both tackle the scourge of litter and offer a valuable source of materials to industry. This will help the UK to keep apace with countries around the world, where deposit return schemes are rolling out to boost recycling rates and tackle litter. In addition to Ireland which has seen great success, Austria launched its scheme this month and Spain has recently announced its own initiative.”
Aaron Massey, owner of Costcutter Windy Arbour store in Dublin, said:
“Ireland’s deposit return scheme has given our small, family run store a chance to help make a difference in the battle to fight global warming and litter in our communities. It took a few months for our customers to get used to the new shopping routine, and we had to explain it to people at first. But this quickly changed and since February 1st last year, we’ve had more than 100,000 containers and an average of more than 250 bottles and cans returned every single day!”
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Notes to Editors
About Reloop
Reloop works at the centre of policymaking with governments, industry stakeholders and NGOs. Leading the transition to a global circular economy, where our natural resources remain resources.
Deposit Return System Polling
As the momentum for a deposit return system gains traction, recent developments in Europe signal that even more deposit systems will emerge in the next few years. Fortunately, there is a strong wave of public support for deposit systems, providing gratifying assurance for governments currently contemplating legislation as a strategy to meet recycling targets. Reloop’s updated fact sheet compiles insights from over 180 public opinion polls across 29 jurisdictions from 2003 to 2023.
