Should the EU have a common container-deposit system (i.e bottle return system – pant/tare/pfand etc)? If yes, then how much should the “monetary deposit” be? Which country’s system should be adobted by all the countrieS? In Estonia for example it’s 0.10€ for all bottles (glass/plastic/aluminium).

22 comments

1. No. It’s better to have national systems, but I do agree that every country should have one. Countries that have deposit system have highest rates of plastic bottle recycling.

   Why national? Different companies have different types of bottles. National system is less restrictive and More likely to succeed.

2. I only know the Dutch statiegeld system. So I can’t really compare. It does suck that I can’t return German, Czech or Belgian bottles, cans and crates in the Netherlands tho. I wouldn’t mind if I could return everything everywhere, but I get that it would be a logistic nightmare.

3. Yes, tho here in Flanders the government still oposes the concept outside of glass beer bottles.

4. In Ireland we just introduced a deposit return scheme a year ago. Mostly it works, some people grumble, the airports have return machines where the deposit goes back to charity instead of back to the buyer.

5. Come and watch people returning empty cans on a busy Saturday morning in a big Finnish supermarket. The machine accepts beer cans, coke cans, rot your toddler’s teeth cans and bottles both glass and plastic destined for return to Alkoholiliike. That’s the way to do it. 15 euro cents per bottle.

   It’s also possible in busy places to dump entire black sacks full of empties into a hopper which sorts the contents out automatically and finally issues a receipt exchangeable for euros at any till.

6. I can see more countries cooperating (like Denmark and Sweden going together), but I think universal might be a bit much, partly due to the enormous logistics (though that can probably be solved) and partly due to prices of the deposit. How high or low should the deposit be? Should it be tiered (like here, with large bottles having higher deposit) or flat (like in your country)? I fear a lower deposit than what we have would reduce the amount of returns here (it might also negatively impact poor and homeless who sometimes gather bottles for the return deposit), and higher rates might have a disproportionate impact in other countries. What of different currencies?

   That said, I fully support a hypothetical EU regulation that mandates all members to introduce a deposit and return system.

   I think a model based on the Danish makes good sense, because why introduce something, if you only go half the way? Take something like Belgium, where they pretty much only accept certain beer bottles or crates of beer. They have the same machines that we do, but don’t use them fully

7. Ypu are stepping on a political landmine. Especially when mentioning deposits in Denmark.

   German tax on food in general and beer in particular is lower than in Denmark. This has lead to a number of supermarkets just south of the border target at danes either travelling through or making a trip just for shopping. When Germany got around to making a deposit scheme for bottles, they also created a system where you can buy beer without paying the deposit if you sign a declaration that you will not consume the contents in Germany and export them within 24 hours.

   This is blatant violation of EU law, but Schleswig-Holstein likes the jobs created. Negotiations for a solution has been ongoing for years, and years and more years. For some reason danish supermarkets does not feel like paying out deposits on behalf of someone they see as an unfair competitor.

   Latest development is that EU’s upcoming rules on packing should end the loophole in 2029.

8. No. There’s just not enough reason to justify it. The amount of people and products this would be practically relevant to is still going to be negligible.

9. I live on the german/dutch border, so I have dutch and germany cans and bottles. Germany does it better than the Netherlands IMO. The machines are more sturdy and have less downtime (and I’ve seen a lot of machines; and lot longer than the Netherlands has a deposit system). Germany has 25 cents for bottles and for cans; 1 picto for everything; and it’s easily readable. The Netherlands ahs 15 cents on tiny bottles and cans, and 25 cents on big bottles. Small beer bottles or glass might be different in Germany or NL; I never buy those.

   I would be easier for me if I could recycle my cans anywhere, and not store them at home, for when I do my groceries in Germany again.

   I rather have a Europewide system that’s 25 cents everywhere, on everything.

10. For the love of Holger Danske just have a common way of disposing trash in each country. Traveling around Europe it’s maddening trying to get rid of trash – some counties have different sorting and disposal methods.

11. Works good in Romania, we’re recycling like crazy. They also seem to maintain the collector machines better theese days. We can put in metal plastic and glass. It only needs to have the “ SGR” label on it. Sometimes you need to put it in twice, clear the barcode but all in all it works ok. I like, I recycle and get my cash back. It is 0.10 euro per piece ( lack of s better word) and many many shops have it.

12. Find the country with the system that works the best, most effective and copy paste to the rest of EU.

13. I really like the Spanish system, there is a recycle bin on every (or at most every second) street corner. No deposit. Somehow everyone recycles because it is just the same effort as throwing away regular trash. I would be happy if every country adopted the system. I simply cannot find a store with the return machine around my apartment in Hungary, lot of people without cars (haha funny that they are punished) must run into the same issue.

14. Yes, definitely.

    There are two things to consider:

    1. Single use containers such as tins or most plastic bottles. For these, it’s essentially just to make sure they’re properly recycled. IMHO it’s fine that there are different systems in different countries, but they should be recognised equally across the EU (so you can return your Danish tin in Germany), and ideally, countries should aim to synchronise with their neighbours so the same containers can be used in multiple countries.
    2. Reusable containers such as glass bottles or certain hard plastic bottles. The shapes of many of these are already standardised across many countries. IMHO the deposit should also be standardised for these. Currently, you can buy a beer bottle in Germany, pay an 8 cent deposit for it, and then return it in Austria for 20 cents. That’s silly.

15. We absolutely should have one common system.

    The current mishmash only serves as a technical hindrance to free trade across borders.

    Also, that crate has a DKK 12.50 deposit on it, and the bottles in it are reusable glass. Not plastic.

16. Germany has made politics out of their deposit system, favoring glass over single-use (aluminum and plastic). Partly why they mainly sell beer in glass bottles, the deposit makes cans more expensive. But they also have the highest return rate of any country.

17. Yes, buying beer in Germany and returning the bottles in The Netherlands would be great.

18. Italy does not have return since the 1970s and there would be probably an insurrection if a monetary deposit is established now.

19. No, they are greenwashing detrimental to separation of other non-deposited trash.

20. I don’t know about a common EU-wide system, but it would be wonderful if all the stores within a country would accept all bottles from that same country. Some bottles are not accepted at some stores in Denmark, and then you have to take the bottle back home with you and keep it until you go to another store that might take it. I have a couple of Rynkeby bottles I can’t get rid of even in the local store that sells Rynkeby, because we don’t know which store we bought them at. And it’s just a normal national brand, not a special store-brand.

21. It is easy.
    Use barcodes, not bottletypes.
    Then return the money to peoples creditcard.
    These things is computeroperated anf can diversify in witch country the bottles/container was bought.
    – only use for persons is cleaning and emptying bins.

22. I don’t think it would work in non-euro countries, but I’d like such a system to exist, it would reduce labelling problems if the product is sold in multiple regions.