Reuse: Is there any future for refillable packaging?

It is partly due to the EU membership that selective waste management is about to spread in Hungary. Enthusiastic pupils and teachers compress PET bottles during break and after school. We are not sure whether the gas coming out of the electrically incinerated plastic is harmful to health or not (according to the General Inspectorate for Consumer Protection it is not), nevertheless it is certain that a machine like this uses up energy unnecessarily moreover the compression of PET bottles merely distracts attention from the problem thus it is far from being the perfect solution. The basic concept of waste management is well known in many parts of the world: “reduce-reuse-recycle”... is known, however it is not often put into practice.

In this world full of mislead and ignorance HuMuSz has been emphasizing the same thing for 1o years : the order matters! Or as the new HuMuSz campaign says: No Waste Is Good Waste!

Today it might sound unbelievable that our grandparents didn’t use combined packaging to store ultrapasteurized and „hiperhomogenized” milk in and they survived somehow... They must have worried about the fact that milk didn’t stay fresh for long but the degree of waste generation was practically zero: they had to wash up the cans and mugs at most. But it is a thing of the past: we aren’t even supposed to do the washing up since we have disposable containers! (How didn’t it occur to granny’s mind!)

Whoever has tried rowing on Tisza, one of Hungary’s longest rivers, or has seen the green belts around Budapest knows that all the environment is covered by PET bottles and aluminium cans. These experiences have contributed to the fact that ever since HuMuSz was established it has been fighting for saving deposit-return system. A person is not necessarily supposed to drink mineral water in Hungary but if he does so, he must be given the possibility to choose refillable bottles. Whether he finds refillable containers in the stores depends mainly on economic incentives and rules. Below there is a brief summary about product fee, deposit fee and the changes of law in the previous ten years:

At the time of the change of regime we had the possibility to buy beer, soft drinks and even compotes in refillable containers. Between 1990 and 1992 the two multinational companies- Coca –Cola and Pepsi – got the Hungarian market of soft drinks and they were preparing for the attack against deposit-return system. Other companies started to use combined packaging for juice and soft drink instead of refillable bottles and the use of combined packaging for milk also started. In autumn 1992 deposit on glass cans was eliminated from the system. Many people realized the increase of the amount of waste and this was indicated when on 20^th October 1992 four MPs, belonging to different parties, turned to the Minister of Environment in a shared interpellation in order to save deposit-return system. The minister’s parliamentarian reply was not accepted so the file was transferred to the Environment Protection Committee of the Parliament. Thus the Ministry of Environment was forced to deal with the question seriously. In its statement it asked moderation from packaging industry and announced speeding up the efforts of rule making what’s more it worked out a concept for environment protection and an “action schedule” in order to solve the problem. For a couple of months it seemed that there was a chance to have a reasonable law.

Then the previous order was slowly restored... The minister left – Ministers of Environment have been coming and going ever since – and the influence of the organizations promoting the packaging lobby’s interest increased. “Action schedule” melted into thin air. The packaging lobby was well aware of the fact that at the time of the access to the EU strict regulation would be inevitable for them, but in the meantime they had been working on enforcing their business policy. Not only did the 40-60 times refillable bottles disappear from shops but the 8-10 times refillable plastic bottles were succeeded by one-way containers, too.

In 2002 Pepsi didn’t even pay attention to appearance. Referring to the altered practice of consumers Pepsi withdrew most of the refillable bottles from the market. By this time the rate of refillable bottles was reduced to less than 25%.

The law about product fee, which was in operation in the 1990’s, might be long discussed –and blamed- just like the law about packaging waste which was enacted on 1. January 2003. But it is much more exciting that what are the rules concerning packaging like in spring 2005. The background of the case was a summary, written by Kukabúvár in autumn 2004, titled: Reform of Product Fee Has Failed. As opposed to the proposal of the Ministry of Environment an alternative proposition was submitted to the Parliament by the Economy Department and it was accepted with no debate. There was no chance to stop the abundance of waste.

Then an unexpected turn was taken. After the cabinet reshuffle the balance of forces changed. According to the modified law about product fee from 1. January 2005. on manufacturers or importers have to pay product fee after every single drink container and plastic bag. For instance for a PET bottle up to 1.5 liters 10 forints each (o,o4€) , for a bottle up to a liter 3 forints each and for a can up to a liter 30 forints each must be paid. Product fee must also be paid after refillable bottles but only once when they are put into circulation for the first time. So the more times they are refilled the less expensive they will be. HuMuSz took the new law with cautious optimism. Beside the law about product fee it inspired confidence that the law stated the compulsory rate of refilling. But these figures are surprisingly low. For instance in 2005 it is 25% for soft drinks, it will be 31% in 2006 and by 2010 this rate will have grown only up to 37%. This law has numerous deficiencies and some hardly comprehensible details. Big packaging producers and distributor companies consider the law as a powerful strike on one-way containers. It can be seen from their well-coordinated offensive against the law in 2005.

In the first three months the selection of soft drinks and mineral water wasn’t influenced by the law. However the price of canned beer went up. Beside the consequent law enforcement, the most urging needed action is to enact the law about the new deposit system as soon as possible in order to increase the rate of refillable containers. After getting hold of the draft of the new law we felt as if we’d better have not seen it ... Circulating refillable containers is optional for companies thus the law about deposit system merely a guidance in case a company chooses to apply it. According to the law it is not compulsory for distributors to have deposit-return containers –in any rate – in their commercial selection.