The Beverage Container Refund Scheme, often shortened to BCRS is a container refund scheme currently active in Malta. [1] The scheme first started on November 14, 2022 and is set to continue indefinitely. [2] With the addition of the scheme, a price of 10c has been added to all applicable containers when they are purchased originally. [3] [4] Producers of applicable containers have also been forced to register with BCRS as per recent Maltese legislature. [5] [1 1]
The reverse vending machines accept single-use plastic beverage containers and give a EUR 00.10 credit for each container. [6] The credit will then be outputted in the form of a receipt which can be used either pay at a specific grocery shop. [7] [4]
Within the first 2 hours after the scheme was opened in the late hours of the 14 November, 2,000 containers had been deposited. By the end of the first full day, 50,000 were added onto that. [3] By 21 November, 1 million containers had been put through the scheme. [8]
As of March and April of 2023, the organization in charge of the BCRS has announced and implemented two new "Jumbo" reverse vending machines. These have been installed in Pembroke and Hal Far. [9] This will allow the deposition of multiple plastic only containers at once. [10]
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large carboys for water coolers.
A reusable bottle is a bottle that can be reused, as in the case as by the original bottler or by end-use consumers. Reusable bottles have grown in popularity by consumers for both environmental and health safety reasons. Reusable bottles are one example of reusable packaging.
The Oregon Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation enacted in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971 that went into effect in October 1972. It was the first such legislation in the United States. It was amended in 2007 and 2011. It requires applicable beverages in applicable sizes in glass, plastic or metal cans or bottles sold in Oregon to be returnable with a minimum refund value. The refund value was initially 5 cents until April 1, 2017, when it increased to 10 cents. The Oregon Legislature has given the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the authority to administer and enforce the Bottle Bill. Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), a private cooperative owned by retailers and beverage distributors, administers the collection and transportation of returned containers and keeps all the unclaimed deposits. Materials from returned containers are sold by the OBRC and proceeds are handed out to beverage distributors. In 2022, the bottle bill was expanded to include canned wine, which will become eligible for redemption on July 1, 2025.
Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale and/or the payment of refund value to the consumers. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer. It is a deposit-refund system.
A reverse vending machine (RVM) is a machine that allows a person to insert a used or empty glass bottle, plastic bottle, or aluminum can in exchange for a reward. After inserting the recyclable item, it is then compacted, sorted, and analyzed according to the number of ounces, materials, and brand using the universal product code on the bottle or can. Once the item has been scanned and approved, it is then crushed and sorted into the proper storage space for the classified material. Upon processing the item, the machine rewards people with incentives, such as cash or coupons.
Glass recycling is the processing of waste glass into usable products. Glass that is crushed or imploded and ready to be remelted is called cullet. There are two types of cullet: internal and external. Internal cullet is composed of defective products detected and rejected by a quality control process during the industrial process of glass manufacturing, transition phases of product changes and production offcuts. External cullet is waste glass that has been collected or reprocessed with the purpose of recycling. External cullet is classified as waste. The word "cullet", when used in the context of end-of-waste, will always refer to external cullet.
California Redemption Value (CRV), also known as California Refund Value, is a regulatory fee paid on recyclable beverage containers in the U.S. state of California. The fee was established by the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act of 1986 and further extended to additional beverage types in California State Senate Bill No. 1013, signed into law on September 28, 2022 and taking effect on January 1, 2024; since 2010 the program has been administered by the Cal/EPA California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).
Envipco is an American manufacturer and distributor of reverse vending machines. Envipco's corporate headquarters are located in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Envipco stands for Environmental Products Corporation.
The Tennessee Bottle Bill is citizen-supported container-deposit recycling legislation, which if enacted will place a 5-cent deposit on beverage containers sold in Tennessee. The bill applies to containers made of aluminum/bimetal, glass or any plastic, containing soft drinks, beer/malt beverages, carbonated or non-carbonated waters, plain or flavored waters, energy drinks, juices, iced teas or iced coffees. Milk/dairy, nutritional drinks and wine and spirits are not included in the program.
ecycler is an environmental technology company and brand that provides a marketplace for discarders and collectors of recyclable waste in areas where no organized pickup is available.
There are ten states in the United States with container deposit legislation, popularly called "bottle bills" after the Oregon Bottle Bill, the first such legislation that was passed.
The Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP), also simply known as Bag it Back, is a regulation of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its purpose is to divert recyclable materials from landfill or low-quality recycling uses by charging a fee for each alcoholic beverage container sold in the province, and processing the material for re-use or other recycling activities once the containers are returned for a refund of the deposit fee. Customers forfeit the deposit fee if the container is not returned.
Bottles are able to be recycled and this is generally a positive option. Bottles are collected via kerbside collection or returned using a bottle deposit system. Currently just over half of plastic bottles are recycled globally. About 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and only about 50% are recycled.
The drink industry produces drinks, in particular alcoholic beverage, ready to drink and soft drink products.
Container deposit legislation (CDL), also known as a container deposit scheme (CDS), is a scheme that was first implemented in South Australia in 1977 and over the decades has spread to the Northern Territory in 2012, New South Wales in 2017, the Australian Capital Territory in June 2018, Queensland in November 2018, Western Australia in October 2020 and Victoria in November 2023. The scheme is due to commence in the last remaining state of Tasmania in early 2024.
A deposit-refund system (DRS), also known as deposit-return system, advance deposit fee or deposit-return scheme, is a surcharge on a product when purchased and a rebate when it is returned. A well-known example is when container deposit legislation mandates that a refund is given when reusable packaging is returned. A DRS is a market-based instrument to address externalities, similar to a pigovian tax, with the key difference that a DRS refunds the fee after the product is returned. This provides an incentive to consumers to properly dispose of a product.
Kjell Olav A. Maldum is a Norwegian entrepreneur and business leader. He is a public figure in the Norwegian movement for bottle recycling, an equivalent to bottle bill in the US and cash for container in Australia. Since 2007, he has been serving as the CEO and Chairman of Infinitum AS, the operator of the national paid recycling scheme for bottles and cans marked with the official "recyclable" or "deposit" logo in Norway.
Events in the year 2022 in Malta.
The deposit-return scheme (DRS), is a container return scheme being planned for Scotland. The scheme has been delayed several times and is now due to start in 2025 to coincide with the a United Kingdom scheme. A not-for-profit, publicly owned company, Circularity Scotland Ltd, was set up to operate the scheme however, it went into administration following the latest delay of the scheme. The total level of investment lost as a result of the delay is estimated at £300 million including £9 million of public money which had been invested via the Scottish National Investment Bank.