Longford recyclers boost Lidl as it becomes the first retailer in Ireland to reach 100 million DRS returns

Longford has been named as one of the top counties for DRS recycling as Lidl Ireland today announced it has become the first retailer to hit 100 million DRS returns across its 180 stores throughout the country since the launch of the DRS Scheme on 1 February 2024.

Lidl Ireland's Longford store reopened on 8 August earlier this year after being newly refurbished. Since then it has processed over 150,000 eligible bottles and cans and has returned more than €26,000 in deposits to Longford customers. 

With two Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) available at every Lidl store in Ireland, the retailer has invested more than €50 million to date in installing and recently upgrading its machines to meet high processing demand.

“We’re delighted to lead the retail sector in contributing significantly to Ireland’s sustainability targets and to reach the 100 million containers returned milestone after just seven months of the scheme being live.” Said CEO at Lidl Ireland Robert Ryan.

Lidl Ireland were the first retailers in the country to launch the DRS trial in 2021.

 According to latest statistics, customers are recycling on average around 24 bottles and cans per visit at Lidl stores and redeeming an average of €4.20 in deposit payouts each time.

 “With high redemption rates across all our stores around the country, it’s clear to see that customers are using the DRS refunds to save on their next shopping bill, and many are even using it to load up their Lidl Christmas Savings Card to help prepare for the festive season ahead. In these challenging economic times, it’s more important than ever that customers are supported to fully embrace the scheme and ensure they keep deposit money spent within the household budget”, added Robert Ryan.

Lidl Ireland has rolled out a number of ‘Customer First’ initiatives to provide customers with a premier shopping experience and access to convenient services for the benefit of the local community, including parcel collection pods and pay as you go car and van rental as well as its simple-to-use DRS reverse vending machines which enable everyone in the community to participate in the scheme and easily reclaim deposits paid on DRS cans and bottles.

Lidl Ireland was the first retailer to launch a deposit return scheme trial in September 2021 by installing reverse vending machines at its stores in Glenageary, Co. Dublin and Claremorris, Co. Mayo. Over the trial period, Lidl Ireland collected 2 million bottles and cans and voluntarily paid out more than €200,000 in money-back vouchers to customers which were redeemable in all Lidl Ireland stores.

As part of the trial, Lidl Ireland also collaborated with its suppliers to utilise the recycled PET bottle material in the packaging of its products. Working with key supplier Silver Hill, up to 30% of the total tray weight of the retailer’s own brand Silver Hill duck product was made from bottles collected from the retailer’s DRS machines. This enabled Lidl’s customers to buy back the material collected through the trial period at Lidl’s Glenageary and Claremorris stores, extending the impact of the Irish circular economy.