‘No choice but to increase green bin prices’: Waste firms warn charges could rise as bottle return scheme hits their profits

They say the bottles and cans are the most valuable items in household green bins and they are losing millions of euro in sales of these to manufacturers since the DRS began.

Aluminium cans, which can be recycled indefinitely, are worth €800 to €1,400 a tonne on the recyclable materials market.

PET plastic, which is used in beverage bottles, loses quality the more it is recycled so it is worth less, but at around €500 a tonne is still a valuable material.

It is understood that waste companies are concerned about losing up to €15m a year in this way.

“No business sector can withstand that level of financial loss. The industry will have no choice but to increase green bin prices across the State,” a source said.

An industry source claimed there was an understanding with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications before the DRS began that the waste industry would be insulated against the predictable losses.

A department spokesperson said talks were taking place with the waste industry representative body, but did not concede the DRS was having a major impact on bin collectors.

“The department is currently engaging with the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) and other stakeholders such as Repak to conduct a robust, evidence-based process to quantify what substantive impact, if any, the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme will have on the waste collection system in Ireland over the longer term,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Repak is the industry body that collects fees from companies whose activities directly or indirectly generate packaging waste and it uses the money to subsidise the cost of its collection for recycling.

“It should be noted that the waste industry already draws down subsidies from Repak, levied on packaging producers, for the collection of household recyclables including subsidies for recyclables which are not part of DRS,” the department spokesperson said.

On the question of whether a price increase would be justified, the spokesperson said: “Household waste collection in Ireland is predominantly carried out by private companies operating in a competitive market under a local authority permitting system.

“As such, the department has no role in relation to pricing decisions made by individual waste collectors.

“It is noted, however, that certain waste collectors opted to increase prices over the course of 2023 and earlier this year prior to DRS being introduced.”

IWMA spokesman Conor Walsh confirmed it was in talks with the department about the effect of the DRS, but would not say if member companies were considering price increases.

However, the industry source said the loss of metal cans and plastic bottles meant only low or no-value plastics and paper remained while Re-turn, the new not-for-profit company set up to run the DRS, got the high-value materials instead.

“Removing the revenue from the sale of aluminium cans and plastic bottles means the servicing costs for operating a green bin collection system have increased significantly,” the source said.

“As things currently stand, this cost will have to be passed to the customers in the form of higher charges.”

It is understood waste companies want to be allowed to claim back the deposit on bottles and cans that householders continue to put in the green bin.

Although usage of the DRS is increasing, millions of containers are still put into green bins every week by householders who find it inconvenient to return them to reverse-vending machines at supermarkets.

Waste collectors can sell those as recyclable material but cannot claim back the deposit that the householder has forfeited.

If not given the right to reclaim deposits, it is understood they want further subsidies to keep the green bin collections going.

The IWMA would not comment on any proposals made to the department.

However, when the DRS was initially proposed, the IWMA flagged concerns.

In a submission to a public consultation, it said it welcomed inclusion of the following paragraph in the consultation document: “Waste collectors or operators of municipal recycling facility operators will also be eligible to claim the deposit in respect of containers that are not returned to retailers but which are placed in recycling bins.”

The IWMA said in its submission: “This has the potential to neutralise the impact on the existing recycling system, so it may protect against a serious impact on the existing kerbside recycling system.”

The submission broadly supported the idea of a DRS, but it called for a digital or “smart” version that would allow shoppers to continue returning cans and bottles to their household green bin.

It proposed putting codes on containers and bins that could be scanned with a mobile phone app when a container was placed in the bin so the deposit could be repaid to a linked bank account.

Mr Walsh said the submission, made in May 2021, remained the association’s preferred approach.