Any unclaimed cash from the Deposit Return Scheme should be spent on cleaning up after the ‘bin scavenging’, a newspaper columnist has argued. 

Since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced in 2024, over 2.4 billion bottles and cans have been recycled. 

Before the scheme, only 49% of bottles and cans were recycled; that figure now stands at 90%. 

However, Dublin City Council has said it now spends €500,000 on cleaning up after people who rummage through the bins, strewing waste on the pavement, searching for bottles and cans. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Irish Independent columnist Martina Devlin said she only recently realised the extraordinary lengths people go to obtain the bottles and cans. 

“All of a sudden, an arm reached out across my line of vision and seized something from our table,” she recalled. 

“Of course, I immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, I've been robbed.’

“I started patting my pockets and the seat from my phone or my bag, but to my relief, both were untouched. 

“So, I looked around to see what had been taken and it was a just finished bottle of water.”

A Depsoit Return Scheme vending machine. Picture by: Jonathan Sumpton / Alamy.

Ms Devlin said it seemed like rather “brazen” behaviour to her given that he did not ask for permission. 

“The snatch told me something that I'd known in theory, but hadn't really thought about in practice,” she said. 

“These plastic bottles and cans, which are suitable for the Deposit Return Scheme, have a direct monetary value and people are collecting them for that purpose.”

Overall, Ms Devlin said she still feels the scheme is a “good thing”, noting it has increased the recycling rate and helped schools raise money for good causes. 

“The issue I think that's being raised is rubbish being thrown around the streets,” she said. 

“The random rummagers are going through bins for empties and they're tossing food waste and other litter about the street.”

However, not all cans and bottles are disposed of using Deposit Return Scheme vending machines. 

As a result, in 2024 €66.7 million in cash went unclaimed and Ms Devlin believes it should be passed onto local authorities. 

“Surely that should go to Dublin City Centre to help keep the capital clean?” she suggested. 

“I mean, it's meant to be a not-for-profit.”

Main image: A worker demonstrates a Deposit Return Scheme Reverse Vending Machine. Picture by: Stephanie Rohan/Newstalk.