Abstract:

Plastic packaging is one of the most resource-intensive industries in the world, making it a priority and a challenge in the transition toward a circular economy. To improve the selective collection of packaging waste and enable high-quality recycling, one business model introduced in EU legislation is the deposit and return system. However, EU Member States are at varying stages of developing these systems; while some have established them within a long-term strategic framework, others currently lack the operational capabilities and infrastructure required for their implementation. Therefore, the aim of this article is to compare different European approaches to deposit and return systems and analyze how these influence the selective collection of plastic packaging bottles.