Good practice:

Lithuanian’s deposit system

The public institution Užstato Sistemos Administratorius (USAD) manages the entire deposit system, starting with collection of the packaging waste and ending with it being recycled. The main goal is a system that operates efficiently and is convenient for all stakeholders (producers and importer, retailers, consumers). Founding members
• Lithuanian Association of Breweries;
• Association of Lithuanian Trade Enterprises;
• Lithuanian Natural Mineral Water Manufacturers’ Association.

The founding members of Užstato Sistemos Administratorius release more than 80% of the packaging covered by the deposit system to the market.
Retailers apply deposit for one-way packaging when selling beverages. Consumers can redeem deposit when returning empty packages back to retailers.
The approved value for the packaging deposit is 0,10 euro.
The deposit is applicable to the following types of one-way packaging:
• Glass;
• Plastic (PET);
• Metal.
USAD collects over 600 million beverage packages through the reverse vending machines and at the manual collection points (operated by retailers). Collected containers are delivered to USAD counting center, where packages are counted, sorted and prepared for recycling. The deposit system reduces the demand for raw materials and electricity, and thus mitigates our impact on the environment on an annual basis. The Lithuanian deposit system alone is preventing 55,000 tones of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released every year.

Deposit system infrastructure:
• Reverse vending machine (RVM) points – close to 1.000;
• Manual collection points – over 1.700;
• Counting and operations center – 1 location in country, counting center is located in Vilnius;
• 40-60 employees operate in counting center.

USAD collects and transfers around 3500 tons of metal packaging for recycling every year. Metal recycling requires significantly less energy compared to mining. 95 percent less energy is used for the manufacturing of a can from used packaging. In nature, an aluminium can takes 50 to 200 years to decompose. Recycling of glass results in a 20 percent reduction of air pollution and a 50 percent reduction of water pollution, as compared to its production from primary raw materials.

The full Life cycle assessment (LCA) would be very useful for the decision making, selecting recyclers or for planning purposes. The company is planning to perform the full LCA for the deposit system, however from waste and resource management point of view this GP is very useful.

Obviously, the Deposit system as waste/packaging materials management tool is very attractive from different angles: society, environment, economy, resource efficiency, etc. Deposit system allows to achieve higher recycling targets comparing with other waste management systems.
Lithuania’s deposit system collects and recycle 92% of sold to market beverage packages (PET, metal, glass) every year. EU recycling targets by 2025 were already achieved and exceeded in 2017.
Positive opinion and high engagement of society (Consumer surveys conducted in 2018 & 2019):
• 97% of consumers answered that they are satisfied in general with functioning of the deposit system for single-use packaging.
• 95% of consumers indicated that the amount of garbage in parks, at lakes and other natural places, visited by people, decreased after introduction of the packaging deposit system.
• Since the start of its operation, Lithuania’s deposit system has prevented more than 240.000 t CO2emissions .