How far along are European countries in implementing deposit refund schemes?

Saturday, Sep 13, 2025

Der Standard

Austria expands its deposit system to include plastic bottles and cans, gaining public support despite some complaints.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

Austria has expanded its deposit system this year to include plastic bottles and beverage cans, following some EU countries, although other nations lag behind. Despite some complaints, the new system is generally well-received, with a survey indicating that nearly three-quarters of consumers support it and four out of five feel well-informed about it.

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PULSE is an initiative coordinated by OBCT that has been promoting intensive journalistic cross-border collaborations in Europe since 2024. Its main aim is to help strengthen the European public sphere by reporting on and telling stories from new and diverse perspectives.

At the heart of PULSE are 10 leading national news outlets (Delfi – Lithuania, Deník Referendum – Czechia, Der Standard – Austria, EfSyn – Greece, El Confidencial – Spain, Gazeta Wyborcza – Poland, HotNews – Romania, HVG – Hungary, Il Sole 24 Ore – Italy, Mediapool – Bulgaria) and three transnational organisations, including OBCT , n-ost and Voxeurop .

Additional outlets and journalists are involved as associate partners, including EUobserver , Føljeton (Denmark), H-Alter (Croatia), Levila (Estonia), Rubryka (Ukraine), and The Journal Investigates (Ireland).

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