Deposits for Beverage Containers: Setting the System Framework Through Legislation

Sustainable waste management is an important part of the transition to a circular economy. With the objective to minimize the negative impacts on the environment and at the same time close the loop for recyclable materials, many countries have decided to implement a deposit system for beverage containers. Such a system involves many significant changes in the individual market and requires comprehensive legal regulations on a national level.

Lithuania, which recently implemented a deposit scheme in 2016, as well as Scotland, where deposit regulations were adopted in May this year, both served as important role models during a webinar organized by Reloop Platform on the 17^th of June. Experts and bureaucrats from across Europe had the opportunity to discuss how to design and establish well performing DRS schemes through legislation in different socio-economic conditions and retail market structures.

Webinar materials, available below, present useful guidelines based on the Scottish and Lithuanian experiences, as well as a useful summary of common provisions in existing European deposit legislation.

Webinar materials

• Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme – Presentation by Don McGillivray, Deputy Director Environmental Quality and Circular Economy, Scottish Government –
• Deposit return system (DRS) in Lithuania – Presentation by Ministry of Environment
• Deposit for Beverage Containers: Setting the System Framework through the Legislation – Presentation by Anna Larsson, Reloop Platform