Great waste of a journey. I'm just going back to sticking them in the recycling bin and buying my cans in bulk up North.

by inode

40 comments

  1. They’re fucking shite, I won’t be surprised to see one of the parties jump on this and promise big change because nobody seems happy with it

  4. Have forgotten to bring my stash of cans 4 weeks running. Cannot wait to make it 5 from 5.

  5. Imagine how much more money companies are making off all the folk that can’t be arsed returning the bottles

  8. The people that are using these machines are the kind of folk that were diligently already recycling

  9. I’ve just decided to eat the deposits and put my cans in the blue bin.

  10. I recycle at home – I will purchase no product that supports this return scam I didn’t need it before I don’t need it now.

    Like the euro introduction back in the day the return scam is a price increase through the back door.

  12. As someone who works in retail, I hope people are aware of where those recyclable bottles and cans that are thrown into the reject bin go. Hint: it’s not the blue bins

  14. Am I the only one who isn’t having difficulty with these machines?

  18. I have had 2 successful trips of ten. On some of the rare occasions when the machines appeared to be working, they didn’t accept cans/bottles. Had an error message /code. Conversations with other people at these times suggested they had had a poor experience overall.

  19. As an outsider looking in, it’s a shit show the fact you can’t even put in crushed cans says it all in my outsiders opinion

  20. I’m just throwing everything in the black bin now, and I’ve always recycled previously. I take public transport to work, do occasional small shops on the way home. 

    My options are bring my trash to work; leave early and return the bottles on the way in; or make a separate trip back out after I get home.

    All of which cost me, in both time and money. So instead I’ll just eat the extra tax, and recoup some of it from the time I used to spend separating recyclables from the other trash.

  21. Yeah the machines are grand when they’re working. This wouldn’t be any issue if I wasn’t already being ripped off on my bins and to buy drinks. But sure it’s Ireland.

  22. The good news is that the shop is still obligated to take your empty cans even if the machine is not working. Yes, they can take them manually.

    The bad news is that they will not.

  23. Went to return mine in lidl, wasn’t operational, grand im in Cork city centre so there’s probably 10 other ones within a small walk so I go to dealz, out of order, I then go to Paul street tesco, out of order all 4 of them, I then go to centra where I can finally get rid of my bottles.

    3/4 shops were out of order! To be fair apart from that day I haven’t had issues with them and I’ve gone on 3 runs total since February

    Is it just scumbags messing round with them or what like?

  24. Looks like you’ll have to burn the same amount of fuel again the next time you try to be environmentally friendly!

  25. I’m sick of more bloody bags of plastic around the house. Kids have been down twice with bags of bottles. And come back with them again because the stupid machine was full.

  26. It’s an absolute tone-deaf joke to introduce this in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

  27. some bottles can not be recycled.Simply photocopy the barcode from a similar sized bottle that can be recycled and make a page of barcodes.

    Cut and paste all you like and help save the environment /s

  29. The one in my local aldi wasn’t working the twice when I went to it and then when it did work half the stuff I bought didn’t work on it even though I bought them in the last month

  32. If you’ve got a car and do a big weekly shop, it might eventually start to work, but will still be a massive pain in the arse and take ages if other folk are doing the same

    But how many people are gonna get on the bus carrying a bag full of bottles and cans?

    And how long before people lose patience standing behind folk in the shop returning a bag of bottles manually?

    Nice little earner though – 95% of people won’t bother

  33. Yup, both machines at Lidl were offline. Now I have a boot with a box full of cans, and Lidl have a few of my euros. Now, I already recycled my stuff, so I’m not seeing a benefit here at all. Makes more sense in Germany where the machines work, and the beer isn’t already pricier than rocking horse shit.

  34. Let’s compare correctly using blue bin Vs using those machines…

    Blue bin:
    – Doesn’t use energy
    – Doesn’t require you to travel as it is outside your door

    Machine
    – Uses energy
    – Breaks down and requires maintenance
    – Likely require you to use some kind of fuel to travel unless you live close / have good public transport

    The bottle ends up being recycling in EITHER 

  36. You’d think they’d have it in such a way that the machine would be able to recognise the aluminium can even if the can was crushed that it was aluminium? Surely by its approximate shape and a metal detector it would be able. Whatever about the bottles.

  38. Thankfully the few times I’ve been to the machines they’ve been working. Except the first time, the ones at my Aldi weren’t working. It said to ask for assistance. Like you can ask the staff in Aldi for anything! They’d look at you like you have 3 heads! I went elsewhere and didn’t have a problem. I’ve gotten just over €7 back in a fortnight. I didn’t think I’d be able to get on board with it because it just seemed like a scam but I take them back a few at a time rather than do it in bulk. I just find it easier that way.

  39. to the people who can’t handle basic knockbacks like a machine being serviced. how do you get through the day in general?

  40. Personally I have about 20 large bottles and 4 cans to bring back, in no rush to do.

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