Report

The cost of deposit-refund schemes for large PET bottles

A parliamentary majority in the Netherlands has given its conditionally approval to discontinuation of the mandatory deposit on plastic (PET) bottles over 0.5 litre, one of the main arguments being that this could lead to major cost savings. Tomra Systems asked CE Delft to critically review the assumptions and cost calculations of an earlier study and update them on the basis of the latest data and findings. The update and review show that the costs of the current deposit-refund scheme are around 50% lower than the earlier cost estimates.