A man who imports specialty beer into Ireland has said his business is being 'decimated' by the Deposit Return Scheme.
The scheme was launched in February and sees people get a deposit back on cans and plastic bottles that have an 'R' logo.
From June 1st all cans and bottles in Ireland must be included in the scheme.
Premier International Beers has been importing specialty beers into Ireland for three decades.
Managing Director Dean McGuinness told The Pat Kenny Show they won't be able to sell most of their products from June.
"The amount of choice involved is huge; you've got lots and lots of beers selling in small quantities according to different people's tastes," he said.
"We have been importing 40 different canned products; out of those canned products 38 of them have to be delisted because of Re-turn's insistence on a mandatory little 'R' logo on the can, which really isn't necessary."
'Increase the amount of waste'
Mr McGuinness said if they were to add the 'R' logo themselves it would actually add to wastage.
"What we would have to do is take the plastic off the case, put a sticker on every single can and then put new plastic on the case." he said.
"It means the amount of plastic we'd be using for every [can] doubles.
"It's meant to be an environmental scheme [but] it actually increase the amount of waste."
Mr McGuinness said from June 1st they can't legally sell cans here without the 'Re-turn' logo.
"If we didn't have bottled product we would be out of business - everybody in out business would probably lose their job," he said.
"We don't do plastic bottles... glass is fine, but our canned business is pretty much decimated.
"If you put the sticker on my estimate is that it will increase the cost of that can by between 25c to 60c per can".
'You don't need a logo'
Mr McGuinness said there is a flaw in the approach of the Deposit Return Scheme.
"If every can in the market has to be in the scheme then you don't need a logo on the can to say that it's in the scheme," he said.
"If it's on a retail shelf, it's in the scheme.
"The machine can't see the logo, they're not able to read the logo, the only thing that the machine can read is the barcode.
"So the entire system is controlled by the barcode".
A selection of beer cans and bottles for sale, 11-8-10. Image: Les Gibbon / AlamyMr McGuinness said he's not against the scheme or its benefits.
"All we need is for them to make the requirement for the logo optional," he said.
"So if the logo can be put on a can it should be put on a can".
But Mr McGuinness said if that isn't possible suppliers should be able to "just register the barcode".
He suggested that Re-turn "made a mistake" initially by allowing people to register barcodes for products that didn't have the logo on it.
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