New Concept Bins Rolled Out To Help Recycle Plastic Bottles Come With Added Shelf!

Three-month "Give Take Return" programme will see the roll-out of new shelves on 80 bins where people can donate empty bottles or cans while "on the go"

Main image : left to right Lord Mayor of Dublin James Geoghegan, Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth TD, Cllr Janet Horner, Richard Shakespeare, Chief Executive Dublin City Council and Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-Turn at the launch of a new three-month ‘Give Take Return’ pilot programme by Re-turn and Dublin City Council. (Image: Fennell Photography)

Shelves have been added to some public bins in Dublin to stop people rooting around for plastic bottles to return. The three-month "Give Take Return" programme will see the roll-out of new surrounds on 80 bins where shoppers, commuters or tourists can donate empty bottles or cans while "on the go".

Other people are then free to take the donated bottles and cans and bring them back, as part of the "Give Take Return" concept.

The goal of the pilot programme is to prevent plastic bottles and cans from being discarded, and ultimately allow for better recycling while also reducing litter and is inspired by similar initiatives in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

Launching the scheme this morning the Lord Mayor of Dublin James Geoghegan said, “This innovative scheme is another step on the journey to a cleaner and safer city. We know that members of the public have been searching through public bins for bottles and cans to return.

"This is generating more litter on the street and it’s also an unsafe practice for the people involved. I’m confident this new scheme will go a long way towards solving those issues. It means that if you have an empty returnable bottle or can, instead of just binning it you can donate it to someone else by simply leaving it on the bin surround.”