Spain could return to the 1980s with a bottle deposit payment system

Consumers in Spain could see the return of the container-deposit system that marked the 1980s, which, back then, required the collection of a monetary deposit on glass bottles. This time, the tax will concern the return of plastic packaging. The new legislation was predicted in the waste decree of 2022 and is born out of failure.

That decree stated that, if the current separate collection system - the well-known yellow bins - did not meet the recycling targets set by the EU for single-use plastic bottles up to three litres, including their caps and lids, a deposit, return and refund system (DRS) would be imposed.

After analysing the data with the official methodology set by the EU, the ministry of ecological transition (Miteco) concluded that, if by November 2026 there is a marked "failure to meet the targets", Spanish residents will have to make returning plastic packaging to the store part of their daily habits.

The regulation set clear deadlines and figures. By 2023, 70% of the total weight of single-use plastic containers on the market should have been collected separately for recycling. By 2025, the percentage was meant to rise to 77%, ultimately reaching 90% by 2029.

But reality doesn't meet the standard. In 2023, in order to analyse the efficiency of the current system, the ministry made a calculation by dividing the number of separately collected bottles by the total number of bottles placed on the market.

The calculations took into account both the waste collected in the yellow bins managed by local authorities and the waste collected 'outside the home' by complementary private waste managers with a collaboration agreement with Ecoembes foundation.

After covering all circumstances that could lead to data errors, including fraud and lack of diligence in the reporting of data by packers, in its report Mireco concluded that 214,039 tonnes of bottles within the aforementioned classification had been placed on the Spanish market in 2023.

According to the data collected from the 92 recycling plants in Spain, extracting only the information on the containers concerned by the regulations, the total weight of bottles collected separately was 74,482 tonnes.

Those coming from separate or private complementary collections by Ecoembes (schools, stations and airports, ministries and other institutions, sports and educational centres, hospitals, shopping centres) amounted to 14,000 tonnes. All in all, the percentage of separate collection of SUP bottles for 2023 was 41.3%. Far short of the 70% target.

Ministry sources told SUR that, according to the legislation, it is "the companies that produce these products that must take responsibility for the packaging and be in charge of implementing and financing the new DRS". Miteco technicians might be collaborating with the producers, but it is the latter who must design and implement the regulations.

After becoming aware of the obligation to implement this system at the end of last year, the packaging sector is now immersed in the design phase. Aecoc, Spain's main association representing manufacturers and distributors, has said that it is "committed" to the challenge, even though it requires many shifts in the processes of production, distribution and sales - changes that will have consequent "economic impact on companies".

What stage of this process has been reached so far? Currently, those responsible are in the phase of designing adapted labels, where the price of the deposit and return must be noted. This way all the information will be delivered to staff. What follows is changing the computer systems and managing the areas designated for the collection of empty containers in stores. "We are identifying all these implications to implement the best possible system, with the consumer in mind", said Aecoc.

What is already known is that the starting price for the deposit per bottle will be ten cents. The tax is not included in the final price of the products and will have to be paid separately. Upon return of the used bottle, the sum will be refunded. The regulation states that "in order to guarantee the technical, environmental and economic viability of the implementation of these systems, in addition to plastic bottles, cans and cardboard beverage containers for the same products will enter the legislation".

For years now, several European countries, such as Germany (since 2003), have had the container-deposit system in place. Their example serves as a model for Spanish companies, which are specifically analysing the pitfalls they have encountered along the way and the recycling rate achieved so far.

In 1980s Spain, returns were carried out in shops and supermarkets. Stores were then responsible for paying the consumer directly. Aecoc does consider the same process, without ruling out the possibility of installing "intelligent" containers.

Leonor Pascual, a member of the packaging unit at Ainia, an agricultural and food industry research association, said that, with the advance of technology, placing smart containers "may be the most convenient, accessible and independent of shop opening hours" strategy. She said that the method is one already applied in several European cities where, in general, "it seems that the results have been good".

Will the return system be sufficient to meet the requirements for recycling plastic? Plastics Europe, the European plastics manufacturers' association, said that it is too early to tell whether the new legislation will help to advance recycling targets. "The new DRS system is only for one type of plastic, PET. Therefore, we will have to wait to see the first results to estimate whether this new system will increase recycling rates for all plastics. In Spain, according to state data, the total production of plastics has fallen by around 10% and that of recycled plastics by around 4%," stated the association.

According to Alianza Residuo Cero and the Plataforma Ley de ResiduosYA - the two organisations that most support the changes - the aim is to make the method "as accessible to everyone as possible". They advocate for all supermarkets and stores that sell beverages and also call for an expansion of the products covered by the return system, so that they will include glass and other reusable containers, not just single-use ones.

Ecoemebes said that it will help companies comply with all the requirements of the new regulations. "The environmental objectives in terms of selective collection of packaging are clear, the future implementation of a DRS is a fact and, as an organisation that has been working for more than 25 years to ensure the circularity of packaging, we want to be by the side of producers in the evolution of the current model towards a DRS that meets the needs of the Spanish society," they told SUR.

Finally, they said that the yellow bin will not disappear, as the regulation affects a specific type of packaging, so the need to continue separating other plastic waste (snack bags, softener bottles, tin cans, etc.) is still in force. Together, the yellow bin and the new return system will have to coexist.