Drawing on wide-ranging data
The countries included comprise 81% of the world’s population as of 2019.
In particular, it considers the relationship between wastage rates and the beverage industry’s shift from refillable bottles to single-use drinks packaging, and the measures that can be used to limit that wastage. It looks at the impact the implementation of a deposit return system can have, and the effect of a strong refillable market share – and how both can work together.
The impact of DRS is encouraging
Alongside a series of key findings and recommendations, our analysis shows that, on average, the countries with the least wastage per person collect their beverage containers via a deposit return system, both for single-use and refillable containers. Encouragingly, even when adopted alone, both refillable systems and deposit return still show marked impacts on wastage.

How further sorting of municipal waste for recycling prior to landfill can help the EU meet its recycling and carbon emissions reduction targets.

Our comprehensive overview of Deposit Return Systems for Single-Use Beverage Containers.

A dual-action approach delivering critical benefits for the climate, the environment and for business across 27 EU Member States.