- Background.
- VVI and the UNCRPD.
- The Legislation.
- Current Accessibility of RVMs in Ireland.
- Home delivery take-back service.
- Conclusion.
1. Background.
Many countries worldwide have deposit refund schemes. Indeed, Ireland had its own glass bottle deposit refund scheme until the mid-1980s. Ireland’s newest version, the Deposit Return Scheme, was originally legislated for in Regulations from 2021, and the scheme came into effect on February 1st, 2024.
The scheme is designed to get consumers to more efficiently recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans. This is done by charging an additional deposit from the customer when purchasing the item, with the incentive of recouping this deposit when they “return” those bottles and cans to designated shops, and in particular to reverse vending machines (RVMs) which exchange the bottles and cans for redeemable receipts.
The Department responsible for the scheme is the Department of Communications, which itself has moved, in May 2024, from being a subsection of the Dept. of the Environment to being a subsection of the Dept. of Public Expenditure & Reform. The private company licensed for operating the scheme is Deposit Return Scheme Ireland (DRSI), also officially known as Re-Turn. As a side-note, perhaps it should raise eyebrows that the State has legislated for a monopoly private company to run a mandatory scheme rather than, for example, have it run by the State.
As soon as DRSI was established, in November, 2022, VVI wrote to it offering our assistance in disability-proofing the scheme for blind and partially sighted people. We had close knowledge of systems that were accessible to varying degrees abroad, and had the capacity and interest in researching further. For the next fourteen months up until the launch of the scheme, VVI continued to phone and email DRSI, but we never received a reply. We first wrote to the Minister for Communications regarding the scheme’s accessibility in November, 2023, but once again, got no response.
In January, 2024, in the lead-up to the launch of the scheme, we again made numerous attempts to establish contact with DRSI and the Minister/Department, but once again were either totally ignored or got nothing more than an acknowledgment.
So, It was no surprise to us that when the scheme launched on February 1st, 2024, it was substantially inaccessible to us as visually impaired people. There are three primary reasons for this: firstly,there is no home delivery take-back scheme; secondly, several manufacturers supplied machines that required touchscreen interaction; and thirdly, some RVM’s require the bar-code of an item to be facing upwards.
Once again, in February, 2024, we tried to connect with the Department and DRSI, but were effectively ignored.
In June, 2024, In conjunction with the National Disability Authority, the Department and DRSI established An Accessibility advisory group for disability-proofing the scheme but VVI, despite asking to be included on it, was excluded from it.
In the meantime, we have received very delayed responses to our emails advising us that O’Herlihy Access Consultancy (OHAC) had been hired – presumably on the advice of the advisory committee – and that if we liked, we could participate in that “research.” We have been contacted several times by OHAC, but OHAC was not in a position to say that our contribution to its “research” would be given due weight as per our role as a collective representative voice under Article 4 (3) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD). (N1). It is not appropriate that instead of “close consultation and active involvement” with the public bodies, directly, that our position be mediated and filtered through a third party consultancy that itself is at variance with Article 4 (3) of the UNCRPD.
Where there is research on disability-proofing, albeit belated research, this should be co-designed with DPROs (see below and UNCRDP, General Comment No. 7, paras. 17, 90-1).
2. VVI and the UNCRPD: Collective representation and Consultation in Disability-Proofing).
Voice of Vision Impairment (VVI) is Ireland’s only national Disabled Persons (Representative) Organisation (DP(R)O) specialising in the rights and needs of people who are blind or partially sighted.(N2).
Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD) in 2018, and Article 4 (3) of the Convention deals with disability-proofing consultations and is a “General Obligation” which is cross-cutting and legally binding of immediate effect under international law (N3).
Article 4 (3) [in social model language of disability] states that:
‘In the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present Convention, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to disabled persons, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve disabled persons, including disabled children, through their representative organizations’. [N4]
Clarification of what this means, including the criteria for what comprises a genuine DPRO are laid out in General Comment No. 7 (paras. 10-4) of the UNCRDP. These criteria include:
- DPROs are led, run, directed and mostly membered by disabled people;
- DPROs are not disability-service-providers and should be disaluminiumguished from such organisations and be wholly independent of them;
- DPROs should be rooted in the UNCRPD;
- DPROs’ core aim from foundation is the advancement of the Rights of disabled people;
- They employ, are represented by, entrust or specifically nominate/appoint disabled people themselves;
General Comment No. 7 also makes clear that the views and opinions of DPROs should be prioritised over all others in disability-proofing (GC7, paras. 13-4, 23, 56), even to the extent that there should be DPRO-only consultative spaces in all branches and levels of government (GC7, para. 49).
The UN Committee also clarifies that where there is research on accessibility, this research should, itself, be co-designed with DPROs (GC7, paras. 17, 90-1). This makes sense, because there is no point in reinventing wheels, or misunderstanding some basics of disabling obstacles (N5).
Furthermore, given the relatively low capacity of disabled persons, exceptional supports and creation of an environment conducive to DPROs’ flourishing is an obligation undertaken by Ireland in ratifying the convention (UNCRDP, Article 29 (b: see Appendix A).
Apart from the legally-binding obligations Ireland has committed to in the UNCRPD, the DPRO method of disability-proofing is by far the most effective and efficient, as well as equitable; and its implementation should never be a matter of controversy. Lack of awareness by the powers-that-be appears to be the primary obstacle to the implementation of a disability-proofing system which is both logical and rights-based.
However, VVI’s treatment by DRSI since November, 2022, and directly by the State since November, 2023, is exemplary of Ireland’s abysmal record in giving proper standing to DPROs, and equally to the equal rights of disabled people to access services on an equal basis to everyone else. By marginalising the only representative organisation specialising in the rights and needs of visually impaired people, the Department and DRSI have been discriminating against our visually impaired members as individuals, especially when DPROs representing other constituencies had much closer consultation opportunities.
3. The Legislation.
3.1. UNCRPD, Article 4 (1).
3.2. Interpretation of The DRS Regulations.
3.1. UNCRPD, Article 4 (1).
Apart from Article 9 of the UNCRPD, which deals specifically with accessibility, Article 4 (1) of the UNCRPD obliges the State:
‘To take into account the protection and promotion of the human rights of disabled persons in all policies and programmes;
To refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the present Convention and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with the present Convention;
To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability by any person, organization or private enterprise;
To undertake or promote research and development of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, which should require the minimum possible adaptation and the least cost to meet the specific needs of a disabled person, to promote their availability and use, and to promote universal design in the development of standards and guidelines;
To promote the training of professionals and staff working with disabled persons in the rights recognized in this Convention so as to better provide the assistance and services guaranteed by those rights [N6].
The development of the Deposit Return Scheme since 2021, and the belated attempts to disability-proof it in a non-UNCRPD-compliant manner – since VVI as the only DPRO specialising in the rights of visually impaired people has still not been afforded its proper consultative status as per Article 4 (3) of the UNCRPD – is exemplary of how the above obligatory tracts of the UNCRPD have also been ignored by the State and agencies supposed to be accountable to it.
3.2. Interpretation of The DRS Regulations.
Regarding accessibility of the RVMs, identical wording in identical places was used in both statutory instruments comprising the respective regulations: S.I. No. 599/2021; and S.I. No. 33/2024 (Appendix B).
In early February, after the launch of the scheme, DRSI finally responded to VVI to say that its
‘RVM approval process requires Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) used in Ireland to comply with relevant accessibility guidance/standards. However, in situations where a person with a disability cannot operate an RVM, we expect Retailers to provide a “call for assistance” tool. This ensures that consumers will be assisted whenever assistance is required. Making a staff member available to assist in this scenario is normal practice and part of their customer service offering in the retail environment.‘
So, as the quote shows, DRSI is clearly placing the emphasis on ‘reasonable accommodation’ to be provided by the retailer to disabled people, but it is not even providing guidance to retailers on how this should be done. It is unfair to expect disabled individuals to take it on themselves to most probably have to go through an onerous process of legal complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission under the Equal Status Acts – a process which is practically impossible for many disabled people.
While the reference to “relevant accessibility guidance/standards” of RVMs is vague, a bit of forethought might have led the State and DRSI to be cognisant of the European Accessibility Act, an EU Directive which comes into force in Ireland from June, 2025, and which means that such machines coming into use from the middle of 2025 will have to be accessible to visually impaired people.
But regarding the Regulations, themselves, there is nothing in that legislation preventing DRSI from at least having a strong influence on accessibility of the scheme
For example, in Section 14 (2) (f), [the retailer shall] “take back every in-scope bottle and in-scope container returned to it by a consumer in a manner agreed between the retailer and the approved body;” points to DRSI not being absolved of responsibility in terms of accessibility.
Similarly, in Section 14 (2) (h) we find wording of agreement between the retailer and DRSI in (as the approved body) in: [the retailer shall] “display in a manner that is visible to all customers the location of the closest return point that has agreed to accept the return by customers of in-scope bottles and in-scope containers on behalf of the retailer where a take-back arrangement, other than that at paragraph (f), has been agreed with the approved body.”
Further scope for DRSI to affect accessibility of the scheme through retailers is in Section 14 (3) (a): “A retailer shall immediately reimburse the value of the original deposit paid, in a manner prescribed by the approved body, to a consumer who presents an in-scope bottle or in-scope container for return, irrespective of where the in-scope product was purchased, and the deposit first paid.”
Given such wording in the legislation, claims by DRSI to a VVI member in May, 2024, that DRSI has nothing to do with accessibility and that the matter is purely one of reasonable accommodation by the retailers and RVM-manufacturers, appears to be a cop-out based on wishful thinking.
Secondly, as mentioned above, DRSI’s involvement in the ostensible accessibility-proofing effort at present indicates that it believes it does have a part to play in making sure the Deposit Return Scheme is accessible to disabled people. As DRSI informed VVI earlier in the year:
“We are now in the process of setting up an accessibility consultation group to review these areas. As the infrastructure rolls out, we will also be conducting a programme of audits, from which a continuous improvement programme will be defined.”
It would have been useful had DRSI acknowledged this hands-on role to VVI in our attempts to establish meaningful dialogue since November, 2022, rather than first wholly ignoring us, and latterly marginalising us from our DPRO status.
4. Current Accessibility of RVMs in Ireland.
4.1. Features of Universal Design.
4.2. RVMs on the Irish Market.
4.1. Features of Universal Design.
While rights of reasonable accommodation (Equal Status Acts, 2000-2018) mean that a visually impaired person should be able to redeem their deposit by presenting the plastic bottles and aluminium cans at a place in a shop that the visually impaired person finds most accessible/convenient, such as over the counter, the reverse vending machines (RVMs) themselves need to be accessible to blind and partially sighted people, not least because of the European Accessibility Act that comes into force in June, 2025 (s.i. No. 636/2023).
The key to universal design in this case is simplicity of use. It should be so easy to use that, literally, someone could easily do it with their eyes closed. Some features of RVMs which would facilitate this are:
- easily locatable space to enter the bottles/cans; this could include tactile/embossed arrows to guide someone’s hand to the entry point and receipt exit point.
- for convenience and ease of access, the receipt dispenser should be directly in the vicinity of the entry point, e.g., directly under it.
- an audio instruction, such as one hears at self-service checkouts in supermarkets, should give a message to the customer along the lines of: “Please wait 30 seconds for your receipt” every time a valid item is accepted by the RVM. This should be interruptable by the insertion of the next returned item.
- the receipt should have a tactile marker so that a visually impaired person can identify it and distinguish it from other bits of paper such as other receipts.
4.2. RVMs on the Irish Market.
Ecovend.
Ecovend supplies RVMs to Marks & Spencer, Dealz, Pepco, Gala, and Euro Giant.
Ecovend reverse vending machines work only with touchscreen interaction to begin the process and print the voucher, making them inaccessible to people who are blind or partially sighted.
Ecovend ignored VVI’s reaching out from first point of contact in January, 2024 until November 22nd, 2024. The only message we have from Ecovend, dated November 22nd, 2024 is that they’re
currently enabling the X-model machines to operate without requiring interaction with the user screens. This functionality is being initially deployed across all M&S stores as part of a trial phase, with a planned subsequent rollout to all Dealz/Pepco stores.
Envipco.
Envipco supplies machines to Londis, Mace, and Spar.
RVMs from Envipco work without touchscreen interaction but require the bar code to face upwards, which is problematic for many visually impaired people. While most 2-litre plastic bottles have the bar code at the label seam, it is a guessing game on smaller bottles and cans.
Envipco reverse vending machines print a voucher automatically after 30 seconds.
When we raised the issue of having to face the barcode upwards with Envipco, they replied:
We understand the point you raise; however, we provide the technology in each market as defined by the RVM specification for each market. So, unfortunately, we can’t comment on your point. The RVM specification is set by Re-turn the Scheme Administrator in Ireland.
Note that this position would appear to contradict DRSI’s stance that it has nothing to do with accessibility and that RVMs are expected to adhere to whatever standards (which are much more under DRSI’s remit than it wants the public to know).
RVM.
RVM supplies machines to Centra, Lidl, and Supervalu, and VVI is happy to confirm that RVMs from RVM now work without touchscreen interaction. RVM’s RVMs spin bottles and cans so that the barcodes can be detected automatically.
Initially, the RVM machines at Supervalu and Centra had accessibility issues, requiring the print voucher to be pressed on the touchscreen. However, David Kelly, Managing Director of RVM Systems Limited Ireland, resolved the issue promptly when VVI brought it to his attention.
Sensi.
Sensi supply machines to shops including Fresh.
RVMs from Sensi work without touchscreen interaction but require the bar code to face upwards, which is problematic for many visually impaired people. While most 2-litre plastic bottles have the bar code at the label seam, it is a guessing game on smaller bottles and cans. Sensi reverse vending machines print the voucher automatically after 30 seconds.
Sielaff.
Sielaff supply machines to Tesco, and they spin bottles and cans so that barcodes can be detected automatically.
Tomra.
Tomra supplies machines to Aldi and Dunnes Stores, and VVI is happy to confirm that Tomra RVMs work without touchscreen interaction. Tomra machines automatically spin bottles and cans to detect the barcode.
5. Home delivery take-back service.
Certain sections of the population rely on home shopping, or online shopping, including for products in plastic bottles and aluminium cans. Among these are visually impaired people who find independent navigation to their local shops either impossible or too onerous to be practical.
A fundamental problem with the Deposit Return Scheme is that many disabled Customers ordering online, by app, or by phone for home delivery orders, are now, for the first time in 10 years, expected to go to the shop/store to redeem their deposits. For the past ten years we were simply expected to put the same items in the green bin.
For those of us who cannot independently visit shops with baggage, the ostensible deposit added to the price of the bottled or canned product effectively becomes a tax on our visual impairment. This is a clear example of discrimination.
Even for visually impaired people who can make it to a local shop, we know from our members that this is now problematic. For example, to bring 4 x 2 litre bottles in their backpack and the other 4 in their shopping bag is a new encumberance that disproportionately disables us. It should be remembered that blind people who navigate independently outdoors generally either use a long cane or an assistance dog, meaning that one of their hands is always occupied. It is preferable that the other hand is free for reasons of balance and/or protection from obstacles etc.
It is much harder for a visually impaired person to carry extra baggage to a shop, and if the RVM is out of order, also having to bring everything back home again along with one’s purchases.
For a case study of best practice, where home delivery services do take back relevant items in Germany, see Appendix D, below.
In Ireland, the Regulations appear to give DRSI authority to make sure that retailers must take back the relevant items in the home delivery service, but, unhelpfully, also lists this service as a possible exemption from having to accept the relevant items:
A retailer may, subject to agreement with the approved body, be exempted from the obligation to take-back in-scope products… where an in-scope product is purchased through online sales (Section 17 (2) of both the 2021 and 2024 Regulations).
So, with no encouragement by the legislation or the DRSI, Irish shops in the Deposit Return Scheme do not allow plastic bottles and aluminium cans to be returned when home deliveries are being dropped off.
For example, from the Dunnes Stores website:
If I order Groceries to be delivered, will my delivery driver accept returns of in-scope containers?
No, Dunnes Stores delivery drivers will not accept returns of in-scope containers.
From the Tesco website – Returning containers to delivery drivers.
Our delivery drivers can’t take empty containers, as mixing used, empty bottles and cans with fresh food deliveries would result in cross-contamination, causing a possible health risk.
6. Conclusion.
6.1. Need for Early And Continued Close Consultation with DPROs.
6.2. The Regulations.
6.3. Disability-Proofing RVM designs with VVI.
6.1. Need for Early And Continued Close Consultation with DPROs.
We could also describe the current situation as ‘Consultation Deficit and UNCRPD-Non-Compliance’.
Disability-proofing of all policies needs to be carried out at the concept stage, and not as add-ons. The UNCRPD, which Ireland has ratified has legally-binding obligations, sets out how Ireland should be doing this through Disabled Persons’ Representative Organisations (UNCRPD, General Comment No. 7). The results of not doing this are evident from where we are now, more than ten months after the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme. What makes things doubly frustrating for VVI is that we were not only ignored when we tried to flag this from fourteen months before the scheme was launched, but we were excluded from the belated Accessibility Advisory Group set up four months into the scheme, and thus, it appears that our views and opinions, as well as our facts-based research, are not going to be given due weight as befits our status as a DPRO, but rather be aggregated with general/wide public consultation conducted by OHAC (the third party consultant hired by the State to report on how to fix the unnecessary and totally foreseeable mess).
This would appear to be also discriminatory, since VVI is the only DPRO specialising in the rights and needs of blind and partially sighted people – a key constituency effected by the bad planning and bad design. Also, rather than supporting us so that we have the wind at our back, the consistent marginalisation of VVI and ignoring of our DPRO status is the equivalent of getting us to go through a storm-force gale, and as unpaid volunteers, too.
6.2. The Regulations.
The regulations should make it clearer that RVMs must be accessible; that shops are required to provide reasonable accommodation; and that returns must be accepted by home-delivery services.
6.3. Disability-Proofing RVM designs with VVI.
It is critical that disability-proofing of RVM vendors which is inclusive of VVI is carried out, and that they are directed to co-operate in this by the relevant agencies involved. VVI is the only DPRO in Ireland specialising in the rights and needs of visually impaired people, and we have a right to be supported and treated with respect and dignity.
Appendix A.
DPRO-Related Wording in Article. 29 of UNCRPD states:
States Parties shall undertake to] Promote actively an environment in which disabled persons can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including…[ Forming and joining Disabled Persons’ Organisations to represent disabled persons at international, national, regional and local levels’ (UNCRDP, Art. 29 (b)).
Appendix B.
Parts of the Regulations Relating to Accessibility.
The two statutory instruments (regulations) enacted for the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme are:
S.I. No. 599/2021 – Separate Collection (Deposit Return Scheme) Regulations 2021
S.I. No. 33/2024 – Separate Collection (Deposit Return Scheme) Regulations 2024
The wording relating to accessibility in both is identical and occurs in exactly the same places in terms of referencing within each s.i. These are as follows:
14 (2) (e) [a retailer shall] ensure that the facility for taking back in-scope bottles or in-scope containers or both on their premises is visible and easily accessible to persons who may wish to return in-scope bottles or in-scope containers,
14 (2) (f) take back every in-scope bottle and in-scope container returned to it by a consumer in a manner agreed between the retailer and the approved body,
14 ((2) H) display in a manner that is visible to all customers the location of the closest return point that has agreed to accept the return by customers of in-scope bottles and in-scope containers on behalf of the retailer where a take-back arrangement, other than that at paragraph (f), has been agreed with the approved body, and
14 (3) (a) A retailer shall immediately reimburse the value of the original deposit paid, in a manner prescribed by the approved body, to a consumer who presents an in-scope bottle or in-scope container for return, irrespective of where the in-scope product was purchased and the deposit first paid.
15 (1)(e) [a return point operator shall] ensure that the facility for taking back in-scope bottles or in-scope containers is visible and easily accessible to persons who may wish to return in-scope bottles or in-scope containers.
Appendix D:
Germany: a case study
Germany introduced its deposit refund scheme for glass bottles, aluminium cans, and plastic bottles in 2003.
Home grocery deliveries from REWE, Edeka and Amazon Fresh in Germany take back plastic bottles and aluminium cans. The items for return are presented to the grocery store home delivery driver when delivered, and a credit for it is subsequently applied.
The following website details the home delivery service from REWE in Germany – Der REWE Lieferservice.
Under one of the headings has the following German text.
‘Einfach Pfandrückgabe.
Den Pfandautomaten füllen wir für dich: Wenn du Getränke bei uns bestellst, kannst du dein Leergut der Fahrerin oder dem Fahrer einfach wieder mitgeben.’
This translates as:
‘Simply return your deposit.
We fill the deposit machine for you: When you order drinks from us, you can return your empties to the driver.’
The following website details the home delivery service from Edeka in Germany.
Under one of the headings is the following German text.
‘Kann ich auch meinen Pfand abgeben?
Gerne nehmen wir Ihren Pfand an der Haustür entgegen und schreiben Ihnen den entsprechenden Gegenwert gut. Bitte beachten Sie, dass die Kapazitäten für die Pfandartikelrückgabe mengenmäßig begrenzt.’
This translates as:
Can I also return my deposit?
We will happily accept your deposit at your front door and credit you with the corresponding amount. Please note that the capacity for returning deposit items is limited.
The following website details the home delivery service from Amazon Fresh in Germany.
A deposit (“bottle deposit”) is charged when buying disposable and reusable containers at Amazon Fresh in Germany.
You may return emptied disposable and reusable containers to the driver delivering your Amazon Fresh order.
The driver will total the number of containers per deposit fee on-site, and you can access details of your bottle deposit return under Your Account.
The deposit value will be credited to your customer account as an Amazon gift voucher.
Suppose you want a refund to your bank account. In that case, you may change the settings for refunds for future deposit returns by visiting “My Account” (Mein Konto) and selecting Amazon Fresh deposit returns (Amazon Fresh Pfandrückgabe).
Note: As part of personal delivery, you can always return your empties at least in normal household quantities (max. 40 reusable containers or two beverage crates).
If your delivery volume exceeds this quantity or more space is available in the delivery vehicle, you can return more empties accordingly.
Hoffman is a shop that sells only drinks, such as Coca-Cola, water, beer, and wine.
Under one of the headings as the following German text.
‘Ihre Pfandrückgabe bei Ihrer Getränkebestellung:
Bei HoffmannBringts können Sie nicht nur Getränke bestellen und liefern lassen. Bei jeder Lieferung nimmt unser Lieferservice gerne das leere Pfandgut mit und Sie haben wieder mehr Platz im Büro oder Zuhause. Nach einem Event oder einer Bestellung von Getränken auf Kommission bieten wir Ihnen auch die Abholung Ihres Leerguts ohne Aufpreis an und kümmern uns um die weitere Abwicklung. Ihren Pfandwert verrechnen wir direkt mit der Lieferung. Bei Vorauszahlungen im Falle von Paypal wird Ihnen der Betrag innerhalb einer Woche wieder gutgeschrieben. Somit können Sie Ihr Pfand einfach und unkompliziert bei HoffmannBringts zurückgeben.’
This translates as:
Your deposit refund when ordering drinks.
At HoffmannBringts, you can order drinks and have them delivered. With every delivery, our service will gladly take the empty deposit bottles with them, giving you more space in your office or home. After an event or an order for drinks on commission, we also offer to collect your empties at no extra charge and take care of the further processing. We will deduct your deposit value directly from the delivery. If you pay in advance using PayPal, the amount will be credited back to you within a week. This means you can return your deposit to HoffmannBringts quickly and without complications.
Notes.
N1. The official title of the Convention is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but we use language compatible with the social model of disability, rather than medical model language.
N2. UNCRDP, General Comment No. 1, para. 30. See also:
Legal Opinion, Commissioned by VVI, regarding DPROs.
N3. UNCRPD.
N4. National Disability Authority Participation Matters (Sept. 2022)
N5. General Comment No. 7 (GC7) on Articles 4 (3) and 33 (3) of the UNCRPD.
N6. UNCRDP, Article 4 (1) (c, d, e, f, i).