Editorial: Households shouldn’t face extra costs for doing the right thing and using Deposit Return Scheme

Until you’ve got your own familiar nickname, you’re not really part of the heritage of the nation. The Luas started rolling through Dublin 20 years ago this week. Needless to say it was late getting going by about two years. Dubliners christened it “the train in the drain”, “the sham tram” and most notably “the Daniel Day”, in a play of words on Daniel Day-Lewis.

The anniversary was marked by a first when a van was driven on to the line and became embedded in the tracks. The incident caused major disruption on a busy weekend of concerts, matches and festivals in the capital.

It just goes to show that new problems will always emerge with established infrastructure.

A generation on and the same goes for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The recycling system for bottles and cans has had its teething problems. The empties are taken to a machine at a shop to be scanned and a refund of 15c or 30c per container is provided. The cost of the machines and the floorspace required means there are concerns about accessibility, in both city centre and rural locations.

The complete rollout of the infrastructure will be a test for the ultimate success of the scheme. The maintenance of the machines has also anecdotally proven to be an issue, with recyclers often turning up with their returns to find an “out of service” sign.

Despite the naysayers, the DRS has been adopted as a household chore, a part of the weekly shop and embraced by many consumers who see it as a contribution to the environment. And there’s now a ­container in many kitchens and garages to hold empty plastic bottles and cans.

But now there’s a sting in tail. Thankfully, the time when all household waste got dumped into the one bin and headed straight for landfill is gone. Nowadays, the average household tends to have three bins – for rubbish, recycling and organic waste.

Waste collection companies are warning they may increase prices for recycling bin collections to make up for the loss of plastic bottles and drinks cans to the DRS. The bottles and cans were the most valuable items in household green bins, so the firms claim they are losing millions of euro in sales of these to manufacturers since the DRS began.

The industry is claiming an understanding with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications before the DRS began that it would be insulated against the predictable losses.

Talks are taking place with the waste industry ­representative body, but the department is not conceding that the DRS is having a major impact on bin collectors.

Whatever solution is arrived at, the notion that householders would be hit with higher bills for doing the right thing certainly doesn’t wash.

The Government brought in this scheme, so it is now incumbent on it to protect consumers.

Extra costs from the return scheme don’t add up.

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