THE DEPOSIT RETURN scheme has reached the milestone of one billion returned drinks containers.

This milestone was hit on Tuesday, 4 February in a Lidl store in Kilcarbery, Dublin.

The plastic bottles and cans returned so far are enough to circle the Earth 4.7 times.

The return scheme was introduced last year and on several occasions since, over five million containers have been returned.

Alan Dillon, Minister of State for Small Business and Retail and Circular Economy said the scheme is “already making a real difference” and that he is “looking forward to seeing more positive results this year”.

Niamh Kelly, Head of Marketing at Re-turn, Colin Walsh, Senior Project Manager at Lidl Ireland, Ela Standa, Team Member at Lidl Kilcarbery, and Andrei Romanschi, Store Manager at Lidl Kilcarbery, celebrate 1 billionth drinks container returned.

The Deposit Return Scheme started on 1 February, 2024.

On the anniversary of the scheme, Re-turn said there has been a near-50% reduction in reports of littered bottles and cans and that average daily rates of returned drinks containers regularly exceed 3 million. 

In the first six months of the scheme, 350 million containers were returned, with the figure ramping up to 980 million by the end of its first anniversary.

CEO of Re-turn, Ciaran Foley, said that at current rates, Ireland will recycle around 630 million more plastic bottles and cans over the next twelve months than prior to the introduction of the scheme.

Through the Deposit Return Scheme, aluminium cans can be recycled infinitely while PET plastic bottles can be recycled multiple times, reducing the need for the use of new materials.

Meanwhile, close to €90,000 has been raised for the ‘Return for Children’ initiative since its launch in June.

Return for Children was created to support six national children’s charities, Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack and Jill, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, and Make-A-Wish Ireland.