The act of throwing a plastic bottle or a can of soda in the unsorted container, or even in the recycling bin, will represent a direct financial loss for families, making them pay more with the new system. There is already an official date for the new system to come into force, which requires a deposit to be paid for each package.
From April 10th, the deposit and refund system (SDR) comes into operation across the entire national territory, including the autonomous regions. In practice, this means that shelf prices will increase and anyone who doesn’t return empty packaging will literally be throwing money away.
The information is provided by Expresso, which details the impact of this measure on consumers’ wallets. The objective is to drastically increase recycling rates, transforming waste into an asset with monetary value that citizens can recover.
The cost of not recycling
The mechanics are simple but penalizing for those who do not adhere: for each plastic bottle or aluminum can (up to three liters) of non-dairy drinks, the consumer will pay an additional 10 cents at the supermarket checkout. If you choose to place this packaging in the general trash, it will irreparably lose its value.
The same source gives a concrete example: in a pack of six half-liter bottles of water, the cost will increase by 60 cents at the time of purchase. To recover this amount, you will need to store the packaging and go to a specific collection point.
Conditions for refund
In order for the money to return to the consumer’s pocket, whether in cash, discount voucher or card balance, the rules are strict. Automatic machines will only accept packaging if they are intact, which requires changing the habit of flattening bottles to save space in the trash bag.
The aforementioned source explains that bottles and cans will have to keep the cap and the original legible label. The new products will have a specific symbol next to the barcode, differentiating them from old stocks that will be sold out until August.
Millions invested in machines
To support this logistical operation, food retail made a massive investment. It is estimated that supermarkets and hypermarkets have spent between 60 and 100 million euros to install around 2500 automatic collection machines in their stores.
In addition to these machines, there will be thousands of manual collection points and kiosks in various municipalities. The system was designed so that returns can be made anywhere in the country, regardless of where the drink was originally purchased.
What changes day to day
This model aims to combat the waste of three million tons of waste that ends up in landfills every year. The Minister of the Environment has already admitted the possibility of extending the project to other types of packaging if this start-up is successful.
It also explains what is left out of this system, for now, plastic bottles and glass bottles. In these cases, the recycling process continues in the traditional manner, without charging the consumer an additional deposit.
Also read:
