On February 1, 2024, Ireland became the 16th European country to introduce the Deposit Return System (DRS) for single-use beverage packaging. Just over a year later, the 1 billionth packaging container was returned at Lidl Ireland Kilcarbery, Dublin, on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 — an impressive achievement for a country with a population of 5.3 million.

Following challenges with DRS implementation in Scotland, the smooth introduction and effective operation of the Irish system in its first year serve as a role model for other countries in the region, such as England and Wales, where DRS is expected to be implemented in the near future.

The Deposit Return Scheme is helping to build a cleaner Ireland by reducing cross-contamination, ensuring a higher quality of materials, and enabling repeated recycling. A plastic bottle can be recycled up to seven times, while aluminum cans can be recycled infinitely.

The DRS scheme in Ireland includes PET plastic bottles and aluminum cans ranging from 150ml to 3 liters. A deposit of 15 cents applies to containers between 150ml and 500ml, while a deposit of 25 cents applies to containers over 500ml up to 3 liters.

DRS Ireland in Numbers (as of April 8, 2025):

•    3,200 active collection points (Over 2,600 with Reverse Vending Machines and 600 with manual collection)
•    9,886 registered products
•    1,2 billion collected containers through RVMs (1 227 178 901) 

One of the cornerstones of the entire system is the IT solution provided by Sensoneo, a global technology company with a proven track record in DRS IT system implementations across eight countries. Sensoneo’s end-to-end, ready-to-integrate software for DRS gathers data from all sources and enables seamless integration between all stakeholders within the process chain. The software is built on a cloud-based infrastructure and is compatible with any reverse vending machine.

Alan Pearson, Chief Information Officer at Re-turn, the operator of Ireland’s Deposit Return scheme, expresses his satisfaction with Sensoneo’s role as the IT solution provider: “Technology plays a central role in the success of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme, and Sensoneo has been an outstanding partner in delivering the robust IT infrastructure behind it. Their platform allows us to manage the system with accuracy, efficiency, and transparency across every stage, from collection to reporting, giving us the confidence to scale quickly and deliver meaningful results. Together, we’re building a reliable foundation that supports Ireland’s transition to a circular economy and a cleaner, greener future.”
 

Martin Basila, CEO of Sensoneo, is proud to partner with Re-turn and contribute to a positive role model for other countries in the region: “The successful implementation and operation of DRS in Ireland, along with its positive reception by the public and consumers, demonstrate that a deposit system can work effectively and is the best way to achieve a high collection rate for single-use packaging. We are extremely proud that Sensoneo is contributing to a greener and cleaner Ireland as the IT system provider.”

An interesting aspect of the Irish DRS is the ongoing expansion to new collection points to bring recycling closer to people. These include airports, hospitals, prisons, stadiums, public events, government offices, large companies, corporations, and community collection points. Since Return for Children launched in June, drinks containers have been donated to the initiative at public events, raising €90,000 to date. Return for Children was created to support six national children’s charities, Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack and Jill, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, and Make-A-Wish Ireland. Collectively, these six charities support over 165,000 vulnerable and seriously ill children across Ireland.