Ireland’s First Reverse Plastic Bottle Vending Machine Far Exceeds Expectations
Carrickmacross Tidy Towns has been overwhelmed with the level of interest and use of the Reverse Plastic Bottle Vending machine. The machine has processed over 50,000 bottles in just over 2 months since its launch. Carrickmacross Tidy Town’s secretary Gerry Hand said the committee hadn’t expected to reach this target for at least 12 months after launch, stating that the really great news from the tidy towns perspective is that there isn’t a plastic bottle to be seen on the streets of Carrickmacross.
Recycling 50,000 PET Bottles can avoid the equivalent of more than 4 Tonnes of C02. This is equivalent to saving the Co2 emissions on 450 gallons of petrol or 500,000 mobile phone charges or the planting of 66 Trees to offset. Over 1.5 tonnes of plastic has been recycled through this machine.
The Reverse Plastic Bottle Vending machine was launched on the 30th of September. On its busiest day the machine took in over 1700 plastic bottles. Andrew Spare, the committee member who initiated the machine after seeing it operational in German is delighted with the response. He said that the Committee have been inundated with enquiries from other Tidy Towns and interested groups from around the Country, who are keen to implement a similar system in their towns, businesses and schools.
The Committee has stated that the implementation and use of the system has been a learning process which is ongoing. They have said that they will be providing updates on the implementation and learnings from the experience to help other groups. And that there is a Reverse Vending Seminar proposed for the end of January 2020, when the committee will outline their experience of the entire process.
The machine, located in Market Square Shopping Centre, is sponsored by Monaghan County Council, Monaghan County Council Environmental Section, Shabra Plastics & Re-Cycling and Quinn Packaging Ltd.
The Murphy Twins celebrating the 50,000 milestone.
