€66.7M GOING TO WASTE

IRISH consumers last year turned their back on €66.7m when they failed to cash in their deposits for soft drink containers through the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

- BY GORDON DEEGAN

That is according to the 2024 annual report for Return which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their soft drink containers was the chief reason behind the State backed firm to record a pretax surplus of €51.3m for 2024.

Established by Government, Re-Turn went live with its Deposit Return Scheme operations on February 1 2024, with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans.