'Drop in the whole lot' bulk Re-Turn station approved for Laois business
Portlaoise service station gets goahead to install bulk deposit returns facility
A new type of Re-Turn machine capable of taking multiple bottles and cans all at once, is on the way to Laois.
The owners of the new Downeys filling station on the Dublin road, have been granted planning permission by Laois County Council to install a building for the deposit returns facility.
The Downeys Centra shop had announced previously that it was planning to install a bulk reverse vending machine (RVM), asking the public if they were “tired of putting in one bottle/can at a time”. The new machine will allow customers to “drop in the whole lot, done in seconds, a game changer for Portlaoise”.
It will be located behind the new filling station business.
Similar units installed in other counties are described as being especially beneficial for schools, sports clubs, charity and community groups that collect drinks containers in large quantities for fundraising and environmental initiatives.
Construction is well underway at the new Portlaoise service station, built on the site of the former Leinster Express business park.
It is also getting its own entrance off the new roundabout at Colliers Lane, part funded by the state as part of a €10m investment announced this June for Portlaoise housing infrastructure.
The shop is recruiting staff, while noting they will soon be moving to a “state-of-the-art’ new store.
The Laois planners had asked applicants Portlaoise Service Station Ltd for further information before granting approval.
They asked for a swept path analysis to show how the Re-turn collection vehicle could safely enter, manoeuvre through and exit the site. They asked for details on surface water drainage, and for a lighting design using LED bulbs. They also asked for a new 3D image to match drawings.
Approval was granted on June 21.
The new station will include a forecourt with canopy, pump islands, signage, illuminated roadside totem signage, services area, carwash and underground fuel storage tanks. It will have 48 parking spaces including five for EV charging, three disability spaces and six bicycle spaces. It will have a fuel offloading point, a new site entrance, new boundary treatments and landscaping.