On the 15th of October, the CAPonLITTER project partner IRENA - Istrian Regional Energy Agency from Croatia, organised the third international learning event on the use of economic instruments to prevent littering behaviour, prevention of redundant waste through incentives or taxes and encouraging collection of pervasive items. Mr Zvonimir Majić from the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF) of Croatia was invited by the hosting organisation to present the Deposit Refund System Organisation in Croatia.
The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF) is the central point for collecting and investing extra-budgetary resources in the programmes and projects of environmental and nature protection, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources. The activities of the Fund comprise the tasks related to the financing of the preparation, implementation and development of programmes and projects and similar tasks in the field of conservation, sustainable use, protection and improvement of the environment, and in the field of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources.
The Deposit Refund System in Croatia started with its implementation in 2006 and the decision was driven by increasing quantities of packaging waste since the 1990s as a result of the rising use of non-refillable beverage packaging: PET, bottles and cans. The system foresees that a deposit is established for one-way beverage containers of greater volume than 0.2l made of plastic (PET), metal (aluminium and iron) and glass containing alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, waters, fruit juices, and soft drinks. Milk and milk-containing beverages are subject to an exception and are excluded from the system. A returnable fee of 0.50 HRK (0,06€) is to be applied per packaging unit regardless of the material and size. The take-back process is established in each retail store (automatically by reverse vending machines or manually) where beverages packaged in aluminium, iron, PET or glass are sold to end consumers with the exception for small retailers (which have less than 200m2).
The scheme of the Deposit Refund System in Croatia:
If you want to know more about the Deposit Refund System in Croatia, you can explore the presentation on the following link.
For more information about the CAPonLITTER project in Croatia, contact the CAPonLITTER team at IRENA ([email protected]) or follow us through the social networks Facebook and Twitter.
