Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
74. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he has engaged with a company (details supplied) on the value of unclaimed deposits; the level of unclaimed deposits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72916/25]
View answerThe Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has been introduced to encourage more people to recycle plastic bottles and cans and to deliver on our ambitious EU targets for the recycling of those products.
Re-turn always encourages consumers to redeem their deposits, and it is important that the public is aware that Re-turn retains an open-ended liability to refund deposits to consumers, regardless of when or where the product was purchased.
On 25 July 2025, Re-turn published its 2024 annual report and a link to the report can be found here: re-turn.ie/re-turn-2024-annual-report/
In the report, Re-turn stated that €66.7m in unredeemed deposits were on hand in respect of 2024, before VAT at 23%. As has been seen with deposit return schemes internationally, the level of unredeemed deposits is expected to reduce significantly over time as familiarity with the scheme increases and the return rate improves.
