Islanders having to bring cans and bottles to mainland by boat to reclaim Re-turn deposit
A community group on one of the Aran Islands has complained to the minister in charge of the scheme, saying it's "neither fair nor feasible" to make residents travel to get their money back
Hundreds of island residents are having to bring bags of empty bottles and cans to the mainland by boat in order to reclaim their deposits under the Re-turn scheme due to the absence of reverse vending machines in their communities.
There are no Re-turn machines or manual collection points on a number of islands off the west coast of the country, including Inishbofin, Inis Oírr, Clare Island, and Inishturk.
A community organisation on another island, Inis Meáin, has written to the minister with responsibility for the deposit return scheme, Ossian Smyth, to complain about the situation.
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A member of Coiste Comhlacht Forbartha on the island, who is also a member of the local waste and recycling body, said it was “neither fair nor feasible” to expect residents to carry their containers to the mainland.
“There is one local shop which is neither obliged nor does it have the footfall to install a returns machine,” they wrote.
“Our local shop is also our local post office, and the one-man-staffed outlet is kept busy providing a service for the islanders and much more besides. They do not have the space, time or manpower to receive bottles from customers and store them in plastic bags.”
They explained that the local shop nonetheless has to pay an additional fee on bottles and cans when buying stock, and this cost has to be passed onto the customer.
“The problem arises for islanders… when it comes to redeeming the return fee they have paid, as the island does not have a deposit return machine,” they added.
The correspondent noted that the island already had “a very good” plastic recycling system in place before the introduction of the deposit return scheme at the beginning of February.
“There is growing dissatisfaction on the islands due to the present unfairness of the scheme, and we feel that your department did not think out the logistics for islands properly,” they said.
There are approximately 160 year-round residents living on Inis Meáin, while another 340 or so live on neighbouring Inis Oírr. Both are part of the Aran Islands. Clare Island is home to around 140 residents, while approximately 180 live permanently on Inishbofin.
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív, who previously served as a minister with responsibility for the islands, said access to return points was also a major issue for people living in remote rural areas of the mainland.
“I think it’s important that these basic services are provided on the islands. Certainly, when I was the minister, that was my policy,” he told the Irish Mirror. “It’s a basic service and that’s it.”
A spokesman for Re-turn said the company was currently engaging with communities on the Aran Islands to find a solution that would make engagement with the scheme more convenient.
“Of the 10 retail and hospitality businesses on the islands which were eligible to act as manual return points for the scheme, nine opted to apply for and were granted a take-back exemption,” he said.
“Re-turn is continuing to expand the network of deposit return points across Ireland, which includes over 2,400 Reverse Vending Machines. The number of deposit return points across the country has seen consistent growth since the scheme was launched on 1 February 2024.”
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