Wasps 'are putting people off recycling machines' says Athlone politician

Athlone councillor and taxi driver Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said many people are being deterred from returning their empty cans and plastic bottles because they're afraid of being stung by the many wasps that have been surrounding the reverse vending machines in recent weeks.

'Boxer' said this subject has been coming up regularly among his taxi passengers lately, and he is planning to write to Re-turn, the company operating Ireland's deposit return scheme, to see if anything can be done about it.

"Believe it or not, people are not bringing their bottles (to be returned), they're bringing them home, or some people are putting them in the bin, because they're afraid of getting stung by wasps," he said.

"When I'm driving the taxi, I'm hearing it every day. People are a bit annoyed, and wondering if there's anything that could be done.

"I went myself to investigate it, and I couldn't believe all the wasps that are around (the machines).

"I know it's only for a month, or a month and a half, that the wasps are around, but I'm going to write to the company about it."

He said the wasps were being drawn to the machines by the residual sugar in the empty drinks cans, but he was wondering if measures such as non-harmful sprays could be used to discourage the flying pests from lingering around the machines.

"Seven times today, in three different locations, people said to me, 'I brought home my bottles again (because of the wasps)'

"One woman told me, 'I'm not going back. That's my third time this week and I'm not going back again, because I got stung twice'.

"Another woman, wearing glasses, told me that when she was putting in the bottles she had a wasp in between her glass and her eye, and she got afraid."

The Independent councillor and former Minister of State said he had no issue with the deposit return system itself.

"The system is a very good system, and a lot of people have great praise for it. Ok, sometimes the machines don't work, but that can happen in any walk of life," he said.

"But the wasps - I don't think they catered for that element of it when the machines were invented. I do think a thing like a spray could be sprayed there, particularly at this time of the year, if it's no danger or harm to anybody but keeps the wasps away.

"I'm going to write to the company to outline the concerns that people are bringing to me. I am a public representative and it is something that people are saying to me on a regular basis," he said.