Kilkenny 'Returns' more than 4,500,000 bottles and cans!

The people of Kilkenny have returned more than 4,500,000 plastic bottles and drink cans in the first 12 months of the Return scheme - in just two supermarket chains! 

According to SuperValu and Centra, their stores have enabled the equivalent of every citizen in Ireland to recycle 42 containers under the first 12 months of Deposit Return Scheme.

Saturdays are the most popular day for customer recycling in SuperValu stores due to customers doing their ‘big shop’, while Centra customers recycle smaller numbers but more often.

Over the last 12 months, SuperValu and Centra shops and supermarkets in Kilkenny have Recycled a total of 4,541,176 bottles and cans.

SuperValu and Centra are marking 210 million container returns in over 550 stores nationwide since the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme 12 months ago - this is equivalent to enabling every citizen in Ireland to recycle 42 containers. 

703 Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) have been installed in 560 SuperValu and Centra stores across the 26 counties in Ireland - empowering communities across Ireland to conveniently make returns and move towards more sustainable shopping habits.

Under the Deposit Return Scheme PET bottles can be recycled up to seven times and aluminum cans have no recycling limit. The containers are collected from SuperValu and Centra stores at the end of each week and brought to a recycling facility in Limerick. They are then sorted by material and color, while any waste that enters the system is removed. 

SuperValu and Centra invested €28 million in Reverse Vending Machines across their store networks nationwide, as part of their continued focus to build more sustainable communities.