You walk into a grocery store, making your way to the beverage aisle. You pick up your favorite soda and go to purchase it. Upon a later return visit, you head to the reverse vending machines and drop off your empty bottle. You walk away knowing that this plastic bottle has not only been diverted from ending up in a landfill, but you have also received a small refund on your original purchase. This everyday experience reflects the reality for many people in Sweden, where sustainability is seamlessly integrated into daily life.
In 1982, Returpack AB was founded with a mission to contribute to a more sustainable society by collecting deposit-bearing packaging and recycling it to create new single-use beverage bottles and cans.
By 1984, they had launched a nationwide deposit system for aluminum cans, which later expanded to include single-use plastic PET bottles.
Returpack implemented a system where the consumer pays a small fee at the point of purchase of each aluminum can or PET bottle, which is later refunded when the consumer recycles the packaging. In their facility in Norrköping, Sweden, packaging is collected, sorted, and resold to produce new raw beverage materials (Pantamera, n.d).
By combining the efforts of parties in the supply chain and the end consumer, Returpack AB has created a system that recycles nearly 3 billion bottles and cans each year (Swedish Institute, n.d).
This concept is not unique. Similar recycling systems can be found in Norway, Denmark, Germany, and, as of mid-2024, in 30 countries around the world (Buchholz, 2024).
However, criticism has been raised against this system as research from Brunel University of London from 2022, found that beverage bottles made from recycled PET had a higher concentration of “Food Contact Chemicals” than those made from virgin PET. Additionally, only 86.3% of PET bottles and cans were recycled in 2024 (Pantamera, n.d.).
While this marks significant progress, a great amount of plastic still ends up in landfills or in the ocean, which highlights a more critical point. We need to continue developing smarter systems that can properly recycle materials. To reduce waste and redirect it from ending up in landfills, we need to close the loop. This change doesn’t exclusively apply to the systems we create. Every sustainable initiative starts with the materials we use. Efficient product design should be accounted for on every step of the journey from the beginning of life to the “end”. This is our mission at ECOR, to create a panel that is not only recyclable and kept in a closed loop but is also safer for the consumer. We achieve this with the help of our patented technology. It is designed to ensure that our products are both free from toxic resins and utilize post-production paper and agricultural waste that can be broken down and recycled at the end of life.
Sources:
Buchholz, Katherine. Bottle Deposit System: Which Countries Have Plastic Bottle Deposit Systems? (2024). https://www.statista.com/chart/22963/global-status-of-plastic-bottle-recycling-systems/
Pantamera. About Us. (n.d.). https://www.pantamera.nu/en/about-us
Pantamera. Deposit Statistics. (n.d.). https://www.pantamera.nu/en/private-citizen/facts–statistics/deposit-statistics
Pantamera. Our Business. (n.d.). https://www.pantamera.nu/en/about-us/our-business
Pilgrim, Tim. Harmful Chemicals Found in Bottled Drinks Prompts Call for Better Recycling. (2022). https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Harmful-chemicals-found-in-bottled-drinks-prompts-call-for-better-recycling
Swedish Institute. Swedish Recycling and Beyond. (n.d.). https://sweden.se/climate/sustainability/swedish-recycling-and-beyond