Show some bottle and ditch this awful scheme
PICTURE the scenes of national celebration if someone in charge had the sense to pull the plug on the rotten Re-turn deposit scheme.
I’m amazed political polls don’t reveal the rigmarole of Re-turn is at the top spot of voters’ concerns.
Whoever canvasses at my door next month will hear all about it. I’ll give my vote to whoever pledges to get rid of this new, unnecessary drudge.
Because if we tolerate this, some flute will see fit to put another ransom on other recyclables, under the banner of increasing rates, or the catch-all “meeting EU targets”.
The whole thing is perverse, impractical, defective and counter-productive and should go.
In an increasingly busy world, everyone resents it.
I’ve yet to meet anyone saying: “Oh I love that deposit return scheme. How did we ever live without it?
“I can’t wait to drag the contents of my home over to the queue to find out the reverse vending machine is banjaxed.” There has been a flood of complaints about it, from people with far more reason to give out than me.
One wrote to Environment Minister Eamon Ryan: “I am disabled following a stroke, live alone and have no car.
“Delivery drivers cannot accept returnables and I must bring them to my nearest shop. Would you kindly explain to me exactly how I can do this as a disabled pensioner?”
My house now resembles a recycling centre, as I wonder why I’m doing the Government’s job for it.
I nearly break my neck every day trying to plot a course past bags for waste, compost, glass, recycling, and now, the final straw, the big, stupid, separated-out Re-turn branded cans and bottles.
They take up the most space, as you can’t crush them down.
They’re just an unending, rapidlygrowing hill of plastic and aluminium in the way.
As soon as you find the time to get yourself over to the nearest RVM, for your few quid back, there’s another pile of them at home, waiting to be Re-turned.
It’s a full time job. When you’re as busy as you can possibly be already, it’s an unfair pain in the arse.
The kumbaya politicians who dreamed it up must have more time on their hands than the rest of us. I’m saying all this as a long-time, keen recycler who is obsessively antiwaste.
But there’s a line to be drawn when energy expended in the process offsets gains.
If I have to drive with a car-full of cans over and back twice to my local Supervalu because the RVM was broken or closed, that’s not a win.
Grand plans must also take on board other considerations, such as people’s lives and capabilities.
As the complaints show, the vulnerable are adversely affected.
Those who are old or infirm, or are pressured already, such as working single parents, or those stuck in tiny housing crisis-era accommodation, will find this a heavier burden.
There’s also the long-term effect. I love recycling and re-using as I get a sense of worth and reward from it.
It’s a bad idea long-term to make it a punishment, not a pleasure.
You could just take the hit and continue to put them in the green bin.
But then where would your unclaimed money go?
I have not heard a satisfactory answer to that question yet.
Families trying to cover bills can’t part with approximately €500 a year, not with the cost of living today.
It’s the price of the car insurance, or your renter’s credit. Let the politicians know, when they come knocking at your door at election time.