for Re-Turn DRS, concept to production
A single-file app for Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme. Count your bottles, see the exact refund before you reach the return point — then funnel those 15c and 25c deposits toward a goal you actually want. Calculator, goal tracker, and return-point map in one page. No backend, no framework, no install.
A consumer app built around Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (Re-turn) — no framework, just vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a single file. Return a drinks container and you get your deposit back: 15c for 150–500ml, 25c for 500ml–3L. The friction it removes is that you never know what a bag of bottles is worth until the machine prints the voucher.
The core is a live calculator: enter how many small and large bottles you have and the exact refund resolves instantly, before you leave the house. Every calculated return feeds a running total and a set of savings goals — an iPad, a concert ticket, a charity donation — each showing the euro gap and the number of bottles still standing between you and the thing you want.
The frontend is fully responsive, organised as four screens behind a mobile tab bar: a home calculator and goal tracker, a goals list with an in-app "new goal" sheet, a Dublin return-point map, and a profile with lifetime stats. State is held client-side — no accounts, no sync to configure.
It's hosted on Netlify as static file hosting — no server to manage, just one HTML file served over CDN. The only operational overhead is dragging a file to redeploy.
The deposit itself is pocket change. A bag of bottles nets you a few euro, not a windfall, so this was never a "make money" product. It solves two problems most utility apps ignore. First, it kills the anxiety of not knowing: know-before-you-go turns a vague chore into a specific number you can plan around. Second, it borrows a trick from behavioural finance. Frame the 15c and 25c refunds as progress toward something you actually want, and a forgettable errand turns into a habit with a reason behind it.
The calculator is just the entry point, not the whole product. Once your returns and goals live in one place, there's a real ecosystem to build around them: finding return points nearby, partner offers, goals you fund purely by recycling. This prototype is the front door to all of that.
Design started in Figma Make. First came low-fidelity wireframes to nail down the screen inventory and navigation model, then a mapped user journey through the core loop: calculate, set a goal, find a return point. From there, a full visual design pass decided on fonts, sizes, and spacing so every screen looks seamless, including the deposit-card component system that repeats across the app.
From there, it got built into real code as one HTML file. Lovable took it straight from design to a live, working prototype, so there was no gap between deciding what it should look like and actually having it run. What's on this page right now is that same design, live and clickable. The plan from here is to take it from prototype to a production build sometime between 2026 and 2027.