Known in some areas as container deposit schemes or bottle bills, deposit return legislation adds a small deposit to the price of each beverage, which is refunded to consumers when they return the empty containers for recycling. DRSs are set up by the government in each geography according to local needs, infrastructure and policy objectives. As such, different DRSs can bring different results, depending on their design.
“This white paper was published for those stakeholders looking for best practices and guidance to accelerate the adoption of a circular economy, to meet performance targets, and to address the chronic problem of beverage container litter,” said Wolfgang Ringel, Senior Vice President Group Public Affairs in TOMRA. “As deposit return momentum increases around the world, and more regions introduce these policies, now is the right time to understand what makes some programs more successful than others.”
Trends in recycling and waste management
There is increasing public and policy demand to address plastic pollution on land and in the oceans, to slow rising recycling costs, and to move away from take-make-waste models toward a circular economy. DRSs have proven to be an effective policy approach to these challenges.
The European Union’s Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation requires member states to separately collect 90% of all single-use plastic beverage bottles and drink cans by 2029. It also adds a requirement that member states set up a deposit return system by 2029 to achieve those targets. Deposit return is known for its effectiveness, with leading systems routinely recovering over 90% of deposit containers sold.
Some recent geographies to introduce deposit return schemes are Portugal, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Greenland. Last year’s DRS kick-off in Tasmania saw Australia become the first continent completely covered by deposit return schemes, and last month’s launch in Singapore saw it become the first country in Southeast Asia to implement a nationwide deposit return scheme.
