This article appeared in the July 2023 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content.
New research into two decades of beverage sale trends around the world found there was no decrease in sales when deposit return systems went into effect or were expanded.
A study released in July and conducted by Reloop and the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), used data from a dozen deposit return system (DRS) markets around the world, comparing sales before and after the systems were introduced or expanded. It found that there’s been a general upward trend in per-capita packaged beverage sales, and that all sales fluctuations were in alignment with regional trends.
Reloop and CRI both advocate for deposit systems. One of the states analyzed by the researchers was California, which passed its first DRS law in 1986, instituting a refund value of one-tenth of a cent for several types of beverage containers. Over the ensuing years, that value was periodically bumped up, reaching four-tenths of a cent in 2004. And even with the redemption program expanding in 2000 to include almost all containers for non-carbonated beverages, California saw its per-capita packaged beverage sales grow steadily (see chart below).
This article appeared in the July 2023 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content.
