Laois recyclers boost Lidl to hit a whopping 100 million DRS returns

Laois has been named as one of the top counties for participating in the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) recycling as Lidl Ireland announced it has become the first retailer to hit 100 million DRS returns across its 180 stores throughout the country.

Since the official launch of the Irish government’s DRS scheme on February 1 2024, Lidl Ireland has processed over 1.5 million eligible bottles and cans across its two stores in County Laois and returned more than €260,000 in deposits to Laois customers.

The Portlaoise store is currently top of the leaderboard for DRS recycling with more than 790,000 units, whilst its Portarlington store returned more than 700,000 units to date. 

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.

Speaking on the announcement, Robert Ryan, CEO at Lidl Ireland said:

“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.

Our investment in our trial and state-of-the-art fitout of machines in our stores has been well worth it and it’s clear that customers are voting with their feet. It’s great to see so many people choose to recycle with their local Lidl store and to play their part in helping Ireland transition to a circular economy."

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.