10,000 signatures reached
To: Richard Bruton, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Introduce a Deposit Refund System for Drinks Containers
Introduce a deposit refund system in Ireland to help tackle our worsening plastic waste crisis.
It would work like this. A small charge (eg. 10c) would be added to the price of drinks in cans, glass & plastic bottles. When the container is returned to the shop the 10c is returned to the consumer.
Why is this important?
Returned containers are then reused or recycled. A bit like the plastic bag levy, this system is proven to be very effective, recovering up to 95% of containers. Imagine the difference that would make to our coasts, countryside, towns & cities!
Germany, Denmark, Netherlands have had successful deposit refund systems in place for years. The UK have just announced they are introducing a deposit scheme.
Ireland is drowning in litter and we KNOW deposit refund systems work - with recovery rates of up to 95%. Luckily for us many other countries are already doing this, we won't need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to start taking some positive action!