Councillor demands Re-turn helps fund €500k bin cleanups amid €1.4m payout

Amid reports of a €1.4 million payout to Re-turn’s senior management and board, Councillor Gayle Ralph has renewed calls for the recycling scheme to ringfence surplus funds to help local authorities combat the rising costs of clearing up after bin scavengers

News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 14:41, 05 Aug 2026 Updated 15:06, 05 Aug 2026 View Image Re-turn machines (stock) (Image: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photo Agency, Dublin)

A Dublin City Councillor has renewed their calls for unused deposit funds to be partially ringfenced for local authorities in light of reports of a significant pay increase among Re-turn management and board members.

Fine Gael Cllr Gayle Ralph has called for funds accrued from the Deposit Return Scheme to be redirected to assist with cleaning up messes left by scavengers. Following an Irish Times report stating that payments to key management personnel have risen to from €1.1 million to €1.4m, Cllr Ralph has doubled-down on this request.

“When a not-for-profit organisation can allocate €1.4 million to its senior management and governance, it is reasonable to ask whether it can also allocate funding to councils that are facing additional costs because of the scheme,” she said.

The report states the pay increased by €300,000 because payments to board members are now included in this item on the balance sheet. The Deposit Return Scheme has seen a significant increase in recycling, with a total of 1.4 billion containers returned last year. This equates to a return rate of 76.4%.

But, that still left €60.1 million on the table from people who failed to redeem their deposits. Re-turn state that this money is reinvested to support and improve the scheme. “This includes expanding the return network, rolling out bulk-feed reverse vending machines, investing in infrastructure and consumer education, and progressing Ireland’s first PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility,” a statement on the Re-turn website said.

While the Deposits Return Scheme has clearly succeeded from the perspective of increasing recycling among the general public, it has also created a new problem as so-called ‘bin scavengers’ are tearing apart plastic bags and pulling open public bins in search of bottles and cans worth between 15c and 25c a piece.

When these messes occur in Dublin city, it is the Dublin City Council ’s waste management team who are left to clean up the carnage at a cost reported to be between €500,000 and €1m per year. A spokesperson from Re-turn stated they are willing to engage with the council on this issue and their goal is to “support our partners in delivering a successful Deposit Return Scheme in Ireland”.

Cllr Ralph has called for this to go further than engagement and for the establishment of a dedicated local authority support fund to help councils meet the growing cost of keeping streets clean. With payments to key management personnel and board members at Re-turn now standing at €1.4m, these expenses far exceed even the most extreme estimate of city cleaning costs.

"Across Dublin people are searching through public bins for bottles and cans. Too often, rubbish is left strewn across our streets afterwards, creating unnecessary work for Dublin City Council's street cleansing teams and frustration for residents,” Cllr Ralph said.

"Dublin City Council has estimated that dealing with bin interference linked to the scheme has already cost approximately €500,000. That is a significant cost to the public purse."

To counteract this, Cllr Ralph has written to Re-turn Chief Executive Ciarán Foley proposing that a proportion of any surpluses generated by the scheme be ring-fenced to support local authorities dealing with these additional costs. This should include additional street cleansing as well as improved public bin infrastructure.

“The Deposit Return Scheme should not result in councils being left with a larger clean-up bill. If the scheme is generating substantial surpluses, then it is only fair that some of those funds are used to offset the costs being incurred by councils and, ultimately, taxpayers,” she said.

"This is about fairness. Local authorities are dealing with the consequences of the scheme every day. They should not have to carry those costs alone."

Cllr Ralph believes there a portion of deposit funds should go toward local authorities carrying the burden of clean-up costs. “I think there is an opportunity to further strengthen the scheme by ensuring a portion of those funds is used to address the unintended impacts,” she said in a letter to Mr Foley.

“This would show that the scheme is committed not only to improving recycling rates but also to supporting the communities and local authorities dealing with its unintended consequences. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this proposal and explore how Re-turn and councils can work together to ensure the Deposit Return Scheme continues to be both environmentally successful and beneficial for our city,” she said.

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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