Calls to keep deposit return system simple

A deposit return scheme (DRS) to encourage recycling of drinks bottles and cans should be kept simple, according to experts from countries with plans already in place.

Deposit schemes charging consumers a levy on their bottles and cans – which they can reclaim by returning them for recycling – have been introduced in a number of countries including Estonia and Lithuania.

In both countries an obligatory 10 cent deposit is charged on glass, plastic and metal beverage containers and larger retailers are obliged to have machines for returning the containers.

Saulius Galadauskas, chairman of the DRS in Lithuania and president of the Lithuanian Brewers Association, said the scheme in his country is very popular. “Consumers love this system, they feel a part of the system, they feel they’re contributing to the environment,” he said.

“Our last survey showed over 60% of consumers said the DRS obligatory system encouraged them to change their mindset towards other packaging sorting they were not sorting before.”

He said bringing in the system, which covers containers from 100ml to three litres in size, though not wine or spirits bottles, had not caused companies to change their packaging to try to avoid the deposit scheme.

But he warned: “You have to keep it simple for consumers and the more complicated system, the more exemptions, the more incentives to manipulate for others.”

He warned against trying to design the scheme just for “on-the-go” drinks containers and not those which people might consume at home, saying it was a way to “park” the issue.

Concerns have been raised that a deposit return scheme in the UK could take valuable recycling materials such as aluminium cans out of household recycling bins, depriving local authorities of revenue.