Binmen making extra cash under Re-turn scheme by grabbing bottles and cans, ministers told

Binmen and hospitality workers are earning extra cash by claiming the deposits on bottles and cans discarded or left behind by customers, government ministers have been told.

Last month, it emerged that fewer than half of the recyclable containers placed on the market by the end of August had been returned, suggesting that many consumers are discarding bottles and cans without reclaiming their deposits.

And a number of bodies, including Dublin City Council and Irish Rail, have had to take measures to stop people rummaging in public bins for bottles and cans since the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in February.

Government ministers have now been told that workers in the waste-collection and hospitality sectors are setting aside DRS containers collected in the course of their jobs with a view to making extra cash by claiming deposits themselves.

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In correspondence seen by the Irish Mirror, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan was sent photographs purportedly showing two binmen inserting “hundreds” of drinks containers at a reverse vending machine in Kildare.

The correspondent understood that they had picked the bottles and cans out of the domestic or commercial bins of customers who had discarded them without reclaiming their deposits.

The photos and accompanying correspondence had initially been sent to Re-turn, the company behind the DRS scheme, describing the practice shown in the pictures, and asking: “Is this allowed?”

A representative for the company simply replied: “Yes, this is allowed.” The complete correspondence was then forwarded to Mr Ryan, who was told that “the two staff were trying to make money out of the deposit return scheme”.

Ossian Smyth, the minister of state responsible for the scheme, received separate correspondence from a member of the public who complained that there were no reverse vending machines located at Cork Airport – meaning outgoing passengers who purchased drinks could not reclaim their deposits.

This situation had apparently created an opportunity for enterprising hospitality staff, who were observed collecting, washing and storing bottles and cans at the airport, “presumably with the intention of collecting the refunds at a later date”.

Cork Airport has since installed two charity reverse vending machines and two standard reverse vending machines under a pilot programme.

Other correspondence received by Mr Smyth claimed that staff in restaurants that were charging deposits on containers were clearing tables “quickly” and depriving customers of the chance to reclaim their money by returning the bottles and cans themselves.

Copies of the correspondence were released to the Irish Mirror under the Freedom of Information Act.

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