Extending Re-turn’s Community Impact Through a Digital Donation Experience

Re-turn is Ireland’s national Deposit Return Scheme and since being introduced has delivered significant environmental benefits by boosting recycling rates and reducing litter throughout Ireland. Currently the ways in which the public can donate their Re-Turn refunds is inaccessible to most people, as the donate option is only available at select machines and donation fundraisers are often private.

This project aimed to explore how Re-turn can extend it’s community impact by developing a digital donation concept that enables consumers to donate their refunds to charities and track the impact of their contributions.

Discovery

First, I carried out a survey with 121 participants. This helped me understand peoples motivations, donation habits, and interest in using an app to digitalise the return experience.

I then carried out interviews with 4 people who regularly recycle using Re-Turn to gain deeper insight into user experiences, motivations, and frustrations when returning bottles and cans and to explore donation habits and potential app features.