Pilot project on a deposit and refund scheme in Cadaqués

The Foundation for Waste Prevention together with the multi-stakeholder platform Retorna recently conducted a pilot project to assess the feasibility and acceptance by the population and commerce of a deposit and return scheme for one-way packaging. The pilot project took place in the small coastal and touristic town of Cadaqués (located 200 km north of Barcelona) from April 15th to June 30th this year, and was supported by the Catalan Waste Agency. It was based on the temporary implementation of a deposit and refund scheme for one-way beverage containers. The pilot project had several general objectives, such as demonstrating that deposit and refund systems are feasible, analysing their economic impact on municipal waste management, showing a good example for all, and assessing the level of return of refundable containers. The results of the project proved that with the help of deposit and refund systems the weight of bins and volume occupation can be reduced, public places can be made cleaner, collection and processing costs can be reduced, separate collection can be increased, and the quality of recovered materials can be improved in a way that the vast majority of citizens and retail outlets actively takes part in it, and agrees with it as well.
The 12 pages long executive summary of the pilot project can be downloaded from the website of Retorna in English.

Source: Retorna