By the end of January, around 25 million deposit packages were already in circulation. "We expect that from March onwards, a large number of deposit beverage packages will be in circulation," said Monika Fiala and Simon Parth, managing directors of Recycling Pfand Österreich.

2025 is a transition year: Since packages without a deposit logo may still be sold throughout the year, provided they were produced before March 31, 2025, both deposit and non-deposit packages will be in circulation. "The goal of the transition period is to largely use up old packaging and labels and not have to destroy them, thereby saving resources," it was stated in a release on Thursday.

Single-Use Deposit System: High Acceptance Among the Population

Consumers currently find a smaller selection of deposit containers on the store shelves. However, this number will continuously increase in the coming weeks and months.

A recent survey by marketagent on behalf of Recycling Pfand Österreich also showed broad acceptance of the single-use deposit system among the population. "Accordingly, 80 percent of Austrians support the system. The contribution to environmental protection is particularly positively evaluated: 68 percent see the greatest advantage in the fact that fewer bottles and cans are carelessly disposed of in nature," it was stated. Additionally, 66 percent welcomed the fact that old beverage packages are used to make new packaging and that the materials are kept in circulation.

11,400 Return Points in Austria

Currently, nearly 1,500 products are registered in the system, which corresponds to around 98 percent of the annually marketed quantity. Consumers in Austria have access to over 11,400 return points, including around 6,000 return machines. "With one of the highest supermarket densities in Europe, Austria also has one of the highest densities of return machines," according to the management of Recycling Pfand Österreich.

(APA/Red)

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