RE-TURN, THE OPERATOR of the country’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), is planning to build a multimillion-euro recycling facility for plastics, which it hopes will be operational by the end of next year.

Re-turn currently exports up to 90% of PET plastic collected through the scheme due to the absence of a bottle-to-bottle facility in Ireland that can process the material needed to produce new drink containers.

Re-turn intends to use some of the funds accumulated from unreclaimed deposits and producer fees to develop the new facility.

The company had a cash balance of €89.8 million at the end of last year, having retained €66.7 million in unclaimed deposits.

As many as seven prospective contractors have expressed an interest in building the recycling facility, and it is understood that a tendering process for the operation of the plant is also underway.

The plan was discussed during a meeting between Re-turn CEO Ciaran Foley and Environment Minister Darragh O’Brien during the summer, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr O’Brien was told that legislative changes may be required to facilitate the development of the recycling plant, and the European Commission had been contacted regarding existing regulations.

Mr Foley outlined plans to set money aside in a circular economy fund to help finance the construction of the facility, which he hoped would be “up and running” by 2027.

A spokesperson for Re-turn confirmed that the company was “actively engaging” with the Government and its industry partners on the project to build the country’s first bottle-to-bottle PET plant.

“Since launch, Re-turn has publicly stated [that] a key element of its long-term strategy is to support bottle-to-bottle PET recycling in Ireland, to further enhance our circular economy and recycling infrastructure,” they said.

“As a result of the increase in the national recycling rate for drinks containers from 49% to 91% since the scheme’s introduction, Ireland is now recycling the consistent level of food-grade PET plastic needed to make the country’s first PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility viable.”

The meeting between Mr Foley and Mr O’Brien took place at the end of May in Malahide. The Re-turn CEO told the minister that “seven businesses” were bidding to build the facility at that point.

Minutes from the meeting show that a “comms [communications] piece” would be needed to “mark each milestone”, including the award of a contract for the facility, site selection, and planning approval.