Voice Ireland survey aims to tackle Irish waste crisis

Almost nine-in-ten people believe all drinks containers should be included in Ireland’s deposit return scheme (DRS), a survey has found.

The landmark poll by environment charity VOICE Ireland found 88 percent favour an ‘all-in’ model to tackle Ireland’s waste crisis.

It revealed a majority of Irish people support the inclusion of metal cans, plastic water bottles, plastic milk bottles, glass bottles, coffee cups, and drink cartons and pouches.

The Irish Government is set to introduce a DRS for drinks containers in 2021 with a proposed model where consumers pay a deposit on all PET plastic drinks bottles and aluminum cans.

But the public wants the scheme broadened significantly to include as wide a selection of materials as possible.

Voice Ireland- Examining recycled glass 

Recycling rates for glass in Ireland – which is currently excluded from the scheme – reduced from 86 to 78 percent between 2018 and 2019. While a few of the 200 million single-use coffee cups used each year are recycled.

Some 78 percent of those quizzed also said they backed the introduction of a variable deposit fee. This is where consumers pay a deposit that varies based on the size and material of the container.

Campaigners want a higher deposit levied on plastic drinks bottles (1 litre and above) than the current €0.20 charge on drinks containers proposed by the government.

A strong majority of those polled backed an all-in DRS with a variable fee across Munster, Leinster, Connacht, and Ulster.

Opinion was relatively consistent across the age ranges of those polled, with 90 percent of 25-34-year-olds calling for a scheme that includes as many drinks containers as possible.

The Government is currently consulting on the design of the scheme.

Last year Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) found five-in-six of Ireland’s beaches and waterways are not considered clean enough to meet European standards, and drinks containers of all materials contribute to over a quarter of litter found, by weight.

Meanwhile the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment estimates litter cost local authorities a combined €107 million in 2018. Dublin accounted for 30 percent of that cost alone.

The poll was commissioned by VOICE Ireland, a member-based Irish environmental charity that empowers individuals and local communities to take positive action to conserve our natural resources.

RED C polled 1,006 Irish adults aged 18 or over between 1-5 October this year.

Voice Ireland- neighbourhoods under siege 

Mindy O’Brien, Coordinator, VOICE Ireland, said: “Our neighbourhoods, beaches, and waterways are under siege from throwaway containers of all materials, including thousands of plastic and glass bottles, cans and coffee cups.

“The people have spoken. This poll shows overwhelming support for an ‘all-in’ DRS with a variable deposit levy.

“We must do this at the beginning of the programme so that we don’t create market disruptions that could sway producers and consumers away from more sustainable materials towards less environmentally suitable material solely because it is not included in the DRS or because the deposit was less expensive.

“We hope that this DRS will morph into a system that facilitates the take-back of reusable containers, such as glass bottles, to be collected, cleaned, refilled, and reused over and over again. Not only is this good for the environment, but this is good for local businesses, keeping jobs in Ireland.”

Oisín Coghlan, Director of Friends of the Earth Ireland, said: “We’ve called for a deposit scheme in Ireland for years, but now we risk shooting ourselves in the foot by creating a programme that is nowhere near comprehensive enough.

“Today we call on the Government to design a scheme that includes all materials and a variable deposit level, similar to what is found in Scandinavia, to encourage sustainable choices.”

More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here.
FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 50,000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles.

Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully, we can share your story too and reach our global audience. We are agile, responsive, quick and talented, we look forward to working with you!

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking