DRS – Deposit-Return System
A traditional Deposit-Return System is a system under which the consumer, upon purchase of a beverage container, pays the seller a sum of money which is refunded to the consumer when the beverage container is returned to a point of collection.
Deposit-Return Systems in Europe
Deposit-return systems are among the most effective means against environmental pollution and for material recovery. No other system achieves higher rates of separate collection of raw materials (90% on average, up to 97% in some countries like Germany or Norway). Therefore, deposit-return systems are currently on the rise – worldwide and especially in Europe.
Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a deposit system for single-use bottles in 1984, followed by Iceland in 1989. Germany has had such a deposit system since 2003, the latest country in Europe to introduce a DRS was Lithuania in 2016. Currently, six other European countries have already taken legal steps to introduce such a system, and in eight others, including France and Romania, the introduction is being discussed. The EU has also made a significant push towards the introduction of Deposit-Return Systems with the 2019 EU Directive on Single Use Plastic.
Smart Deposit-Return System
The Smart Deposit-Return System, as provided by our Partner RLG – Reverse Logistics Group, addresses to improve the given limitations of a conventional deposit-return system by enabling lower infrastructure investment, flexibility in collection methods, and a reduced fraud risk.
A classic deposit-return system is often limited to return-to-retail solutions. Such solutions, however, are often inconvenient for consumers and cannot be changed to address country specific situations. A Smart Deposit-Return System, in comparison, offers various collection and return methods, such as e-bins, RVMs, or handheld devices, which allow for a solution that is specifically designed for local circumstances. Thereby a Smart Deposit-Return System becomes more consumer-friendly and engaging than a classic Deposit-Return system and collection rates are higher.
It also reduces the fraud risk significantly. The classic deposit-return system is vulnerable to fraud, which can have an immense impact on all participants of the system. Without the individualized and unique marking, the same packing unit could be copied or returned multiple times. This opens the door to fraud problems which in the end harms everyone: the environment, producers, vendors, and consumers. The fraud protection achieved through unique marking, in combination with a wider variety of return methods and better accessibility for consumers, makes a Smart Deposit-Return System not only the most industry but also the most consumer friendly deposit-return system.
