{"id":104018,"date":"2025-07-07T15:03:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/?p=104018"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:32:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T10:32:21","slug":"deposit-systems-in-other-eu-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/pfandsysteme-im-eu-ausland\/","title":{"rendered":"How deposit systems work in other EU countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone travelling through Europe in the summer quickly realises that deposit systems are not the same everywhere and there is a lack of uniform standards. But this is exactly what is set to change in the EU. In future, all member states are to collect plastic drinks bottles across the board - ideally via a deposit system. The German Plastic Packaging Association IK has now carried out a deposit check.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The PPWR stipulates that 90 per cent of single-use plastic bottles and metal cans should be collected separately by the beginning of 2029. This is routine for countries like Germany, but a big step for others. Because in many EU countries There is still a lack of nationwide returns, clear standards and digital tracking.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Europe in a deposit check<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In many holiday destinations within the EU, there are collection containers where empty plastic bottles can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. However, a look at the map of Europe shows that Deposit systems for drinks bottles are by no means standard everywhere.<\/strong> While countries such as Germany (since 2003), Sweden, Finland and Denmark have been successfully using deposits for years, many southern and eastern European countries are still lagging behind.<\/p>

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Particularly striking: large markets such as Spain, Italy and France<\/strong> have so far No mandatory deposit system<\/strong> although large quantities of disposable packaging are produced and sold there. Also in Poland and the Czech Republic<\/strong> There is currently no nationwide take-back system, while Portugal and Belgium<\/strong> plan to introduce it by 2026.<\/p>\n

Other European countries show how it can work: Sweden operates the oldest deposit system in Europe<\/strong> It has been collecting PET bottles, glass bottles and cans since 1984 and achieves return rates of around 85 per cent. Also Finland<\/strong>, where a comprehensive system for disposable and reusable packaging has been in place since 1996, achieves one of the highest rates in Europe at around 97 per cent. In Denmark<\/strong> (since 2002), the return rate is also over 90 per cent. Estonia<\/strong> (since 2005) and Lithuania<\/strong> (since 2016) achieve response rates of over 85% and 90% respectively - and show that even smaller markets can be successfully organised.<\/p>\n

Other countries with functioning systems are Croatia<\/strong> (since 2006), the The Netherlands<\/strong> (since 2005), Malta<\/strong> (since 2022), Romania<\/strong> (since 2023) and the Slovakia<\/strong> (since 2022).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other countries in Europe have concrete plans: in Austria<\/strong> is set to launch a new single-use deposit system in 2025, while Portugal and Belgium are aiming for 2026. Also Ireland and Scotland<\/strong> are in the preparation phase.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The new EU packaging regulation (PPWR) requires that at least 90 1TP3 tonnes of single-use plastic bottles and metal cans be collected in all member states by the beginning of 2029. Germany can serve as a role model with its experience and functioning systems. Source: Europen - Illustration: IK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deposits in Germany: two systems, one cycle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Behind the 25 cent disposable bottle, but also behind the There is also a deposit system behind the many glass bottles and stable reusable PETs<\/strong> - only with return for refilling instead of recycling.<\/p>\n

In Germany these two deposit systems exist side by side<\/strong>, the product cycle for reusable bottles and the material cycle for disposable bottles. And with great success: 76 per cent of all bottled drinks in Germany are filled in returnable or non-returnable bottles. This shows how established and effective the system already is. In 2022 alone, 13.7 billion litres of drinks were sold in returnable bottles in Germany, around 73% of which were in glass bottles and 27% in plastic bottles. At the same time, 18.5 billion litres were sold in single-use bottles subject to a deposit in the same period, mainly made of plastic.<\/p>\n

Source<\/em>: Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen IK<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deposit systems are not the same everywhere in Europe and there is a lack of uniform standards. However, at least 90 per cent of single-use plastic bottles and metal cans must be collected in all member states by the beginning of 2029.","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":30441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","rank_math_description":"K\u00fcnftig sollen alle EU-Mitgliedstaaten Getr\u00e4nkeflaschen aus Kunststoff fl\u00e4chendeckend sammeln \u2013 idealerweise \u00fcber Pfandsysteme.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"Pfandsysteme","rank_math_title":"","csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[58781],"tags":[65,57582,54,31,60586],"class_list":{"0":"post-104018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-packaging","8":"tag-abfalltechnik-und-recycling","9":"tag-ik-industrievereinigung-kunststoffverpackungen","10":"tag-kunststoff-und-verbunde","11":"tag-nachhaltigkeit-und-green-packaging","12":"tag-pj_home","13":"cs-entry","14":"cs-video-wrap"},"acf":[],"vimeo_video":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}