Bus Éireann installs reverse vending machines promoting sustainable recycling for Grow fundraiser

Bus Éireann, a state-regulated bus and coach provider from Dublin, is diverting the customers from the region towards a sustainable practice of returning used aluminium cans and single-use plastic bottles through a reverse vending machine scheme. These machines will be installed between stations in Dublin and Letterkenny, with an estimated impression of about 3 million passengers each year.

Reverse vending machines are essential for collecting used aluminium cans for recycling and can also diminish the pollution spread by plastic bottles. Ireland is very optimistic about the circular economy that this scheme will build in the EU.

Bus Éireann has established its professed deposit scheme by mounting its first-ever reverse vending machine trail at the bus stations at Busáras and Letterkenny, with plans of expanding the path to different cross-country stations. By doing this, Bus Éireann has become the first transport organisation in Ireland to install reverse vending machines at their bus stops.

Grow Mental Health will receive £6,000 for the entire period the trial will be held. During this phase, Grow Mental Health will showcase some visual stories of hope and recovery from Grow members to elucidate positive mental health further and support their fundraiser.

The reverse vending machines have been delivered by an Irish company Sensi Ltd, and they can successfully store between 200-400 products at once. The machines are automated to allow PET bottles to the volume of 2 litres and up to 500ml scale aluminium cans.

Bus Éireann has a waste contractor aligned and ready for the collection of the used bottles and aluminium cans. Bus Éireann wishfully puts their strategy, ‘Driving Change 2021-2030’, and with the reverse vending machine scheme, hopes to achieve a 70% recycling rate by 2030.

This amalgamation of the two organisations fosters the idea of a better mental health streak in the region by introducing this recycling reward scheme in bus stations. Bus Éireann had an employee count of above 2,700 people operating 1,100 automobiles for 89 million passengers in 2019. In 2021, the first sustainability strategy found its wings in the headquarters of Bus Éireann, targeted areas surrounding waste, communities, cities, equality, climate, safety work and education.

The Senior Sustainability Manager of Bus Éireann, Emer Bambrick, quoted: “We are very pleased to become one of the first transport hubs in Ireland to introduce reverse vending machines which will contribute to the forthcoming national Deposit Return Scheme and help contribute positively towards achieving national and EU waste targets.”

“We are delighted that our customers can use the reverse vending machines to recycle their empty plastic bottles and cans while also giving back to such a good cause as Grow, which does important work supporting people with mental health challenges throughout the country. This is a great concept that makes recycling attractive to our customers, benefits the environment and gives back to society,” he concluded on a constructive note.