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<\/p>\nFather-of-three John Crossan began by recycling 250,000 cans and buying 5,000 native trees in the 1990s, while also travelling hundreds of miles on Tree Walks that brought environmental education to hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren<\/p>\n
11:43, 13 Aug 2026Updated 11:52, 13 Aug 2026<\/p>\n
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John Crossan with bales of aluminium cans at his premises in Longford(Image: John Crossan)<\/p>\n
A Longford<\/a> man who spent nearly three decades funding tree-planting initiatives and environmental education campaigns by recycling aluminium cans has revealed how the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has “obliterated” his green business.<\/p>\n Father-of-three John Crossan began by recycling<\/a> 250,000 cans and buying 5,000 native trees in the 1990s, while also travelling hundreds of miles on Tree Walks that brought environmental education to hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren.<\/p>\n He continued to build a thriving business out of collecting aluminium cans and exporting them to the United Kingdom for recycling, while using proceeds to support tree-planting and other environmental initiatives.<\/p>\n However, he said the business has been obliterated since the introduction of the DRS in February 2024.<\/p>\n “Before the scheme, I would have been bringing five or six vanloads of cans stuffed to the gills in a week, especially at this time of year when there are festivals everywhere,” recalled John.<\/p>\n “Now, I wouldn\u2019t have half a vanload in a week. It\u2019s been obliterated,” he added. “I knew it was going to wipe me out. It was a gradual decline after the scheme went live.”<\/p>\n John\u2019s environmental journey began in Galway<\/a> in the mid-1990s, when he used to conduct beach and street cleanups before handing the cans over to a salvage operator called Fergal McCann \u2013 a fine example of nominative determinism.<\/p>\n By 1997, John had secured a commercial buyer for the aluminium cans, and planned to use the revenue to purchase an acre of land for native woodland.<\/p>\n To promote the initiative, he launched the Tree Walk around 1996, travelling in horse-drawn carts for three months at a time, covering 700 miles around Ireland, visiting schools to teach children about woodland folklore, native trees, and conservation.<\/p>\n Such was its success, the initiative was expanded to the United States, and singer-songwriter Susan O\u2019Neill has spoken on stage about how attending a Tree Walk as a child had ignited her commitment to environmentalism.<\/p>\n “Hundreds of thousands of kids would have listened to us,” John said. “The kids are totally locked on, totally invested in it,” adding that many still stop him in the street to tell him how the acorns they planted are growing.<\/p>\n “The impact of these environmental initiatives is difficult to quantify but it\u2019s like throwing a stone in the water \u2013 the effects ripple out,” he explained.<\/p>\n John Crossan<\/p>\n To handle increasing volumes of cans over the years, John upgraded his operation from using hand squashers to a tarmac roller, before eventually investing in an industrial compactor to bale the cans.<\/p>\n At its peak, a tonne of compressed cans containing approximately 60,000 units fetched around \u00a3600 sterling. Shipments were initially transported to Northern Ireland every five months before being exported directly to plants in England.<\/p>\n “Locals would say, \u2018Fair play, you\u2019re creating a job, saving stuff from the dump, you\u2019re recycling and you\u2019re buying trees. You\u2019re doing three or four things with the one thing,'” John recalled.<\/p>\n The business was also a family affair, and John remembers fondly his late father helping to bale the cans following his retirement.<\/p>\n “My father would come out and help me out. We\u2019d have the craic and read the paper and talk about what was going on in the world, and have a cup of tea and he\u2019d bale five bales,” he said.<\/p>\n “That was his thing. It was keeping him fit and healthy and giving him something to do after he retired. It was lovely.”<\/p>\n However, the launch of the DRS drastically altered the economics of independent scrap collection. Consumers paying a 15 cent or 25 cent deposit on containers now have a financial incentive to return intact cans to Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) rather than handing them over to private recyclers.<\/p>\n “It doesn\u2019t make sense to bale them and recycle them now, because the scrap value of a can can be one or two cent, and you get 15 or 25 cent at an RVM,” John explained.<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_IMG-20260804-WA0006.jpg\")
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