Opinion of the CABH on the proposal to introduce PET bottle backup
According to a study by INCIEN and EUNOMIA, backing up PET bottles would lead to significantly higher collection costs for beverage packaging than at present and, if the current sorted collection system is disrupted, could even work against the targets for increasing the separation and recycling of plastics. Unfortunately, the studies mentioned above do not analyse the impact of the introduction of deposits on this separate collection system.
In any case, for municipalities and their established separate collection systems, as well as for waste companies, the introduction of deposits for PET bottles would mean a necessary revision of the existing sorting system from both a technical and economic point of view. Therefore, the intention cannot be supported on its own without a comprehensive analysis of not only the function of the deposit system but also of the related necessary technical and economic changes to the sorting system, including their economic impact on municipalities and the necessary technical measures to increase the efficiency of the use of raw materials.
