{"id":532,"date":"2019-01-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/deposit-return-schemes-plastic\/532\/"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:07:07","slug":"deposit-return-schemes-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/deposit-return-schemes-plastic\/532\/","title":{"rendered":"Deposit return schemes: resolving plastic waste"},"content":{"rendered":"
Following the release of the new Waste Framework Directive and the ongoing discussion about the single use plastics directive; circular economy and recycling are hot topics at the European level. Among the solutions explored, deposit return schemes (DRS) have proven to be efficient systems to collect plastic bottles \u2013 among other items \u2013 in order to reuse or recycle them. Hence, they are commonly being considered as part of the waste solution that should be implemented across Europe.<\/p>\n
Deposit return schemes are systems where consumers buying a product pay a small amount of money which will be reimbursed when they bring the container to a collection point once they have finished using it. The container can then be recycled and transformed into secondary raw materials. The majority of the time, it is either operated by a governmental entity or by an independent body. The organisation in charge oversees the process, with the installation of the necessary infrastructures and the efficiency of the deposit fee circuit: from producers to retailers, retailers to consumers and the other way around.<\/p>\n
This system is an application of the polluter-pays principle, where people are economically incentivised to recycle rather than waste. It is mostly implemented to collect and recycle beverage containers made of plastic, metal and glass as they can be easily transformed into secondary raw materials. Usually, the fee paid for each item ranges from \u20ac0.10 to \u20ac0.50, depending on the type and volume of the container.<\/p>\n
There are many benefits of implementing DRS. The first and most obvious one is the environmental benefit. By putting a financial incentive to bring containers back for recycling, rather than discarding them, deposit return schemes ensure that more materials can be kept in the system. In terms of quality, DRS provide high outputs as they rely on separate collection, and therefore provides high-quality materials, allowing bottle-to-bottle recycling. This leads to a reduction of both discarded waste and natural resources extraction \u2013 as producers have access to a larger amount of secondary raw materials. Plastic bottles are one of the biggest contributors to the plastic pollution crisis, having a strong impact on marine biodiversity.<\/p>\n
Deposit return schemes then ensure that single-use plastic bottles will be collected, instead of being discarded. Therefore, DRS can significantly contribute to the implementation of the upcoming EU single-use plastic directive. Additionally, DRS bring in fiscal and economic benefits that complement the environmental one. For example, producers can lower their production cost by using recycled materials, which is cheaper than extracting and processing new ones.<\/p>\n
In Europe, until now, 10 countries have already implemented deposit return schemes: Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. All of which have achieved significant results. The least successful country is Estonia, with an 82.7% total return rate \u2013 including can, PET and glass \u2013 which is already higher than many countries in Europe.<\/p>\n