A new deposit return system for drink container recycling has kicked off today in Latvia. The country last year appointed TOMRA as the reverse vending technology provider for the environmental and circular economy initiative.
TOMRA
Latvia launches new container deposit return system with TOMRA
Jānis Vitenbergs, Minister for Economics in Latvia, returns a drink container to a TOMRA reverse vending machine for recycling.
With today’s launch, Latvia joins the rest of the Baltic and Nordic countries in offering a deposit return system (DRS). Latvian consumers will pay an extra 10 euro cents when purchasing an eligible drink, which will be refunded to them when they return the empty bottle or can for recycling. Latvia aims is to achieve a return rate of over 90 per cent for eligible containers, in line with targets in the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive.
The country’s new deposit system accepts non-refillable (one-way) and refillable glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminium cans. Consumers in Latvia can begin returning eligible containers from today. Old, non-returnable containers will be sold in parallel with new containers until August. Latvia’s DRS launch follows close behind other deposit activity in 2021, with Slovakia unveiling its new deposit system on 1 January.
Eero Nõgene, CEO of TOMRA Collection Latvia SIA, said: “As well as our great spirit of co-operation, the experience gained from Lithuania’s deposit return system launch six years ago helped us a lot to make Latvia’s roll-out a success. The system in Lithuania still works following the same high technical standards, values and quality as originally promised to the customer. Our job in the coming months is to get the system up and running as smoothly as possible to provide consumers with a convenient return service."
For TOMRA, enabling the deposit return system in Latvia means completing the process of making the Baltic Sea region more environmentally friendly and bringing it to the same level as many other countries in the region with deposit programmes.