Offaly tops list for Deposit Return Scheme recycling

Offaly has been named as one of the top counties across the country for its participation in the government's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) recycling initiative.

The accolade for Offaly was revealed by Lidl, which has this week become the first retailer in Ireland to hit the recycling milestone of 100 million DRS returns across its 180 stores nationwide. Its four Offaly stores processed over 1.8 million eligible bottles and cans since the official launch of the Irish government’s DRS scheme on February 1 this year.

The processing of over 1.8 million eligible bottles and cans across the four Lidl stores in Offaly has resulted in the return of more than €310,000 in deposits to Offaly customers.

Topping the leaderboard for DRS recycling is Lidl’s Tullamore Church Road store, which has processed more than 690,000 units, whilst its stores at Birr and Edenderry complete the top three, with more than 400,000 units and more than 370,000 units returned respectively to date.

With two Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) available at every Lidl store in Ireland, the retailer has invested more than €50 million to date in installing and recently upgrading its machines to meet high processing demand.

Robert Ryan, CEO at Lidl Ireland expressed his delight at Lidl leading the retail sector in "contributing significantly to Ireland’s sustainability targets and to reach the 100 million containers returned milestone after just seven months of the scheme being live."

Lidl was the first retailer to launch a DRS trial back in 2021, during which they collected two million bottles and cans and voluntarily paid out more than €200,000 in money-back vouchers to customers which were redeemable in all Lidl Ireland stores.

At the outset of the scheme launching, Lidl Ireland planned to process around 3.6 million units per week across 180 stores, but this has been surpassed by up to 25% in some weeks. "We’re certainly punching above our weight in terms of processing volumes, and we have recently invested further in upgrading our reverse vending machines in every store to meet high customer demand" said Mr. Ryan.

According to latest statistics, customers are recycling on average around 24 bottles and cans per visit at Lidl stores and redeeming an average of €4.20 in deposit payouts each time.

“With high redemption rates across all our stores around the country, it’s clear to see that customers are using the DRS refunds to save on their next shopping bill, and many are even using it to load up their Lidl Christmas Savings Card to help prepare for the festive season ahead. In these challenging economic times, it’s more important than ever that customers are supported to fully embrace the scheme and ensure they keep deposit money spent within the household budget”, added Robert Ryan.

As part of their DRS trial, Lidl Ireland collaborated with its suppliers to utilise the recycled PET bottle material in the packaging of its products. Working with key supplier Silver Hill, up to 30% of the total tray weight of the retailer’s own brand Silver Hill duck product was made from bottles collected from the retailer’s DRS machines. This enabled Lidl’s customers to buy back the material collected through the trial period at Lidl’s Glenageary and Claremorris stores, extending the impact of the Irish circular economy.