By the Numbers: A National Beverage Container Program

In the United States, the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act seeks to establish a national beverage con­tainer deposit return system. Modern, com­prehensive deposit systems are proven to be highly effective, equitable, and consis­tently supported by the general public. A properly designed deposit system drives a lower cost of recycling and stronger re­cycling markets.  …

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EU Member States adopt the Single Use Plastic Directive

By July of this year, EU Member States should adopt the Single Use Plastic Directive, the objective of which is to reduce harmful impact of the certain single-use plastic products on the environment. How to implement the enhanced Extended Producers’ Responsibility and how much will producers pay for the litter clean up? What measures are feasible? Can the consumers…

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What We Waste: New global report highlights drink container wastage problem.

Our report draws on data from 93 countries, over a 20 year period, to examine trends in sales, collection and wastage of drinks containers, where wastage is defined as containers ending up in landfill, incineration, or in the environment. The countries included comprise 81% of the world’s population as of 2019. In particular, it considers…

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US Media Release: 140 Billion drink containers wasted nationally every year

MEDIA RELEASE 140 BILLION DRINKS CONTAINERS WASTED NATIONALLY EVERY YEAR 29 April 2021 Elizabeth Balkan elizabeth.balkan@reloopplatform.org Published Reloop [1] data [2] shows that more than 140 billion empty drinks containers – glass bottles, PET plastic bottles and metal cans – were wasted [3] across the United States in 2019. over 74 billion were PET bottles,…

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DRS Factsheets

Deposit-return systems (DRS) are a proven tool to recover high quantities of beverage containers for reuse and high-quality recycling. These systems require consumers to pay a small deposit when they purchase a beverage can or bottle, which they get back when they return the container to a redemption location. Reloop and CM Consulting have produced…

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Deposit Return: How it Works

Deposit Return: How it Works If we look internationally—Europe, US, Canada, Middle East, China, and Australia—massive efforts are underway to introduce or expand existing programs, as governments recognize deposit-return as a modern solution to litter caused by single-use bottles and cans as well as far superior recycling rates. New laws have received much public support,…

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New Web Series on Benefits of Deposit Return

Retorna, a Spanish NGO and a member of Reloop, has long been advocating for ambitious legislation to avoid millions of single-use beverage containers from ending up in landfills or littered in the environment. One of the ways it seeks to do this is by encouraging local governments to implement deposit-return schemes. In cooperation with Nikotxan, Retorna published…

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