Beer

Government set to help craft brewers with return scheme

From next year, all cans and plastic bottles sold in Ireland must have a special barcode but the deposit consumers are charged may be adjusted

Ossian Smyth’s comments were welcomed by the ICBI which was concerned that the scheme could prove prohibitively expensive for small producers. Picture: Rollingnews

The government is open to adjusting the pricing of its deposit return scheme on cans and plastic bottles to assist Irish craft brewers, according to Ossian Smyth, the minister with responsibility for the circular economy.

The Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland (ICBI), an industry group, wrote to Smyth last week airing concerns about what it considers to be prohibitive costs for smaller Irish producers.

The scheme, which comes into effect next year, will require all ...