Romania has introduced a centralised deposit return system for drink packaging. With almost 80,000 collection points, it is said to be the world’s largest deposit return system (DRS). It applies to disposable primary packaging made of glass, plastic or metal with volumes of 0.1 to three litres. The deposit per bottle is the equivalent of around ten cents.
Romania has thus joined 13 other EU countries that have already introduced deposit systems intending to increase the collection and recycling rates of single-use drink packaging. The country currently has one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe. The system is operated by RetuRO, a consortium founded by retail associations and beverage manufacturers and supported by the Romanian Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests. RetuRO is expected to manage around seven billion beverage containers a year and thus significantly improve the recycling rate in the country. All companies that produce, import or sell drinks in disposable containers are obliged to participate in the new deposit return system. The aim is to establish it as the most comprehensive integrated system worldwide.
The complete IT system for the deposit return system comes from the Slovakian technology company Sensoneo. Its software solution integrates all parties involved and collects data along the entire process chain. According to the company, setting up the DRS system, including setting up the devices, integrating the software and identifying and securing suitable locations for the regional collection centres, was associated with complex challenges.
“Despite many challenges, we managed to implement a very complex system in a short space of time. It is a modular system that not only has to support the information received from almost 80,000 stakeholders but also has to correlate identification, inventory, return, recording, invoicing and reporting data for almost seven billion packages.”
Cristian Mihai, IT Director at RetuRO
Modular system
The integrable IT system for DRS developed by Sensoneo can be customised to the specific requirements of different countries. In the preparatory phase, the provider of intelligent waste management solutions delivers a market mapping tool that enables efficient implementation, including digital data collection and analysis from all stakeholders, registration of companies and their beverages in the system and automated digital order placement.
Countries with deposit return systems have been able to significantly increase their recycling rates. (Image: Shutterstock/Veja)
The complete DRS system then includes modules for all activities related to preparation, operation and reporting, such as the web portal for producers and retailers, the packaging register, the register of collection points and interfaces to other systems (RVM, counting and sorting centres). All of these modules are hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure, which offers many options for scaling performance and a high level of security.
Obtaining clean material flows
Sensoneo has extensive experience with deposit return systems and is currently the only DRS integrator operating in five European countries. In addition to Romania, Sensoneo’s IT solution serves as the central infrastructure for the entire DRS system in Slovakia, Malta, Ireland and Hungary. The Slovakian DRS system was implemented in just ten months in 2022 and is expected to achieve a recycling rate of 93 per cent.
“We are delighted that another European country is on its way to introducing a deposit return system. I believe that this is the right step for Romania to increase the recovery of clean material streams and reduce waste pollution. Our DRS IT solution is perfect for large-scale deployment as it provides a centralised platform for all stakeholders of the DRS system with a high level of waste management automation.”
Peter Knaz, Head of DRS at Sensoneo