"Bin scavengers for Re-turn bottles leaving Dublin like a bomb site"

I was standing on the street at a bus stop in Galway city.

I noticed a man on an electric bike pull up beside a street bin, and open it using a key.

He fished out bottles. He was careful, tidy.

This guy had the actual key to the street bin, and looked purposeful. It looked like he had done it before. Off he went to the next bin.
 
IsleOfMan said:
I am just waiting to see a group of youngsters with their odd bottle that they have found, collecting a few coins to buy themselves a treat. I would happily donate my containers to them to see the smile on their faces.
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Quite a few sports clubs and charities collect these as part of their fundraising. They mention options for bulk drop-off direct to ReTurn but don't going into details so I suspect that's reserved for really large volumes.
 
Jazz01 said:
You have the option to get them added as voucher card / supermarket app now
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yes that is handy... especially as a couple of times I've gotten the voucher and forgotten to use it *facepalm*
But call me paranoid, I would be spending it as I got it rather than letting it build up to €50 - €100 before doing so.
 
Leo said:
Perhaps the solution to this problem and reducing litter overall is to get rid of all the bins altogether
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I wouldn't think that would be a great solution. I lived abroad for a long time and I found that in comparison about 20 years ago, a lot of the streets in Ireland had a lot of litter. However, I soon noticed that I had to walk quite a while to find a bin. I think that has improved a lot (perhaps a mixed of more bins and change in people).
 
Premos said:
I wouldn't think that would be a great solution.
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The Avoca one isn't the only example of where removing public litter bins has resulted in a reduction in litter levels, here's another example, but it has been shown to be less effective in busy urban areas.
 
We don't have any use for the bottle returns as we don't drink minerals (too much sugar), and husband gets bottled beer generally.

When passing the machines I am absolutely amazed, at the amount of returns that people have, which is an indicator of especially the amount of minerals people are drinking. I would never in a million years have thought that this was the case, although I have seen trolleys of just large bottles of coke and not even diet, on many occasions in Dunnes.

Another thing that I have noticed, is that the machines in Aldi and Lidl are kept far cleaner than any of the ones in Dunnes. I regularly see a local Aldi machine being washed down by staff in the evening, and no pools of spilt liquid around the area like Dunnes. Have not checked out Tesco.
 
Up Rovers said:
When passing the machines I am absolutely amazed, at the amount of returns that people have, which is an indicator of especially the amount of minerals people are drinking. I would never in a million years have thought that this was the case,
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There are aisles full of sweetened carbonated drinks in supermarkets.
 
Protocol said:

It's honest work': Dubliners who collect bottles and cans on the streets share their stories​

We sat down with four men who collect bottles and cans to raise money for food, Leap card top-ups, phone bills and mor
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Read that earlier, good to see a bit of the humanity to a story literally about people throwing away money and those who really need to retrieving it
“I’LL PUT MY hand in a bin to feed my child.”

“What is the alternative, begging? That would be more degrading to me.”

“How dare they call people scavengers. Do you think people want to go through the bins?”

“We do this to keep ourselves going.”
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I play golf with a guy who retrieves empties on the way from the bins around the course and he isn’t at all short of money either, just hates to see recyclables not going to recycling.
 
You know what? I say fair play to the scavengers. They need the money and sourcing used plastic bottles or use Fanta tins is a means to an end. We should be praising these people not criticizing them. Let's get taxing plastic milk bottles, Domestos containers, plastic lolly-pop sticks, etc. Why stop at Tipperary Mineral Water bottles? The planet waits . . . along with the tree huggers.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I collect two or three together and bring them with me. Often I find someone (ClubMan?) at the machine with a big bag of bottles and I am not going to wait around for my 75cents. I would happily throw them into a container for a charity.
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I give those to Clubman and his kind :) young kids who are clearly doing a large deposit for pocketmoney or fundraising are always delighted.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Go for a wander around Sandymount on bin day. They are often out looking in bins on quiet residential streets.
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Just got a notification from my Google doorbell that there was a person seen
Turns out this person walked up my driveway with a black bag and a litter picker and had a look in both my green and black bin
And unfortunately for him as I don't have a bin service there was nothing there for him to rummage through

So it's not just commercial bins on the streets or domestic bins on bin days, it's any bin, anywhere, anytime!!

Now where's that contact number for our HOA ;)
 
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