Staff members Sonia O’Callaghan and Tracy Doody with Donal O’Mahony, store owner, pictured at O’Mahony’s Centra Mallowr, showcasing the new Reverse Vending Machine installed in the store. Photograph by Gerard McCarthy.
Dano’s Centra in Spa Glen, Mallow, is encouraging customers to help the environment and raise funds for Mallow GAA Club by availing of its new in-store Reverse Vending Machine. Ahead of the introduction of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme in 2024, Dano’s Centra Mallow is among four Centra stores and seven SuperValu stores nationwide leading the way in offering a Reverse Vending Machine Trial to its customers. The trial began in Dano’s Centra on 1st February and will run until the end of March. The initiative is donating €200 to Mallow GAA Club for every 1,000 containers recycled at the Reverse Vending Machine in-store. The maximum donation is €1,000 per month, therefore a €2,000 total donation by the end of March is possible.
Products accepted in the scheme are beverage PET plastic bottles and aluminum cans between 150ml and 3 litres. Products excluded are bottles and containers for dairy-based products i.e. milk, yoghurt etc., and all household plastics and food aluminium cans.
The Reverse Vending Machine is capable of taking in 639,000 beverage containers annually.
Speaking the about the machine, store owner Donal O’Mahony said: “At Dano’s Centra we are committed to playing our part to reduce our impact on the environment. We are delighted that we are giving our customers easy access to a Reverse Vending Machine ahead of a Deposit Return Scheme being introduced nationally next year. The trial will empower customers to increase their recycling in a practical way and reduce their carbon footprint, as well as enhancing instore customer experience. We look forward to paving the way for the roll-out of the scheme in Centra stores nationwide.”