Why Lithuanians cash in on their trash

AFTER THE season for giving, ’tis the one for throwing away. Each year in late December and early January a massive amount of plastic packaging is discarded worldwide. In Britain alone households generate 30% more waste, an extra 3m tonnes, in the month over Christmas. Most is destined for landfill. Lithuania will do less damage than many, though. The country now recycles at a record level. Almost three-quarters (74%) of plastic packaging waste was recycled there in 2017, the highest proportion in Europe. The EU average was 42%, and the worst performers, including Finland and France, under 30%.

Much of Lithuania’s success is due to a deposit refund scheme, introduced in 2016. Customers pay €0.10 extra when buying drinks containers. After use, these can be fed into reverse vending machines installed in shops, which spit the deposit back out. The machines’ contents are sent directly to recycling centres. By the end of 2017, 92% of all bottles and cans sold in Lithuania were being returned, close to triple the amount before the scheme began. The overall plastic packaging recycling rate increased by almost 20%.