It’s like a revolution: from 2025 there will be a deposit system for plastic bottles and beverage cans in Austria. Small Styrian grocers are demanding financial help – and a deposit is only a small step towards achieving the recycling goals.
Politically, the introduction of the deposit on one-way bottles, which was decided in the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, is a triumph for the Greens. All Austrian supermarket chains are on board. There is an exception for smaller dealers (up to 400 m²). In other words: You don’t have to convert or install any machines to take back bottles in the shops.
De facto, however, they will hardly have any other choice, says Sigrid Spath, chairwoman of the Styrian grocery trade: “It would be a competitive disadvantage that we cannot afford. Fewer customers would come if you couldn’t return bottles and cans to us. ”Small and medium-sized grocery stores would have to be reimbursed for the high additional costs, says Spath. “We will do our utmost to achieve this.”
“The goal would have been possible without a deposit”
The Styrian waste giant, Saubermacher, has long been skeptical of the deposit system. Even now, spokeswoman Bernadette Triebl says: “The collection rate target for PET bottles (90% by 2029, note) could have been achieved without a deposit.” But at least there is now a decision on the table that provides orientation. “Basically, we have a positive view of the system.”
Around 9,000 tonnes of PET bottles are still missing to achieve the required collection rate. In total, there is still a gap of 90,000 tonnes for lightweight packaging in order to achieve the targets set by the EU by 2030 – a Herculean task.
The yellow bucket system remains
Triebl believes that big issues such as the sometimes inadequate waste separation have to be tackled. And be innovative: In Gnas, for example, Saubermacher has started a pilot test with a mobile phone app, in which prizes can be won through correct separation and scanning. One thing is clear: the yellow bin system will remain. PET bottles only make up a subset there.