A representative survey of the country's population revealed that after the start of the deposit system, the environment started to become cleaner, the sorting of deposit containers encouraged the sorting of all waste, and the biggest enemy of sorting is laziness.
Met expectations
The start of the deposit system is one of Lithuania's success stories, which has already inspired other countries to introduce a similar system. Here and now 97 percent. Lithuanian residents believe that the deposit system is necessary or very necessary. In addition, exactly the same percentage of people claimed to be satisfied or rather satisfied with the functioning of the system - all this was revealed after a survey conducted by "Spinter research".
"The bail system met the needs and expectations of the people of Lithuania. This is shown not only by the survey of residents' opinions, but also by their actions - during the system's operation, they have already brought in more than 1 billion. packages, and according to the actual collection data, we have greatly exceeded the set goals and even optimistic forecasts," says Gintaras Varnas, head of the non-profit Public Enterprise "Užstato systemus administratorius" (USAD).
In all of last year, USAD scored 92 percent. of packages placed on the market. When implementing the system, it was planned to reach such a percentage only in 2020.
"Normally, innovations have a hard time making their way, but the bail system is apparently one of the few exceptions when the society accepts the innovation very favorably. It's really rare for surveys to have such a low percentage of negative reviews. This, of course, makes me happy both as a researcher and as a citizen", comments Ignas Zokas, the head of "Spinter tyrimi" on the extraordinary research results.
The deposit is only a means, the goal is a clean environment
The basis of the operation of the deposit system is that a deposit of 10 cents is paid for the packages and later withdrawn. However, the possibility of a refund is only an incentive to achieve a more important goal - a clean environment. Such a conclusion is suggested by the respondents' spontaneous answers, with which they assessed the advantages of the deposit system.
"Less garbage, less pollution of the environment, nature", - this advantage is mentioned most often. It was mentioned by 73 percent. survey participants. Being able to get bail was the second most popular answer, but it was seven times less likely. 5 percent the interviewees indicated waste sorting and recycling as the main advantage.
"Lithuanians have always cared about the cleanliness of the environment, so it only takes a little push and their concern turns into action. I am convinced that the emergence of a convenient and simple bail system has become just such an impetus", says G. Varnas.
A total of 87 percent use the deposit system. of the country's population. Those who do not do this usually give financial arguments - they buy few packages or are simply too lazy to do it, because the amount they lose is not large. Therefore, neither financial nor environmental incentives are enough for them to get involved in packaging management.
The price of maintaining the system is acceptable for many
Almost 3 thousand maintaining a deposit system with taromats and tare collection points and collecting half a billion packages per year has its price. When purchasing goods, we spend about 43 cents per month to maintain the system. The survey revealed that such a fee for a cleaner environment is acceptable to many residents.
76 percent of those interviewed claimed that this was an acceptable price, and some of them said that they were ready to pay more if it led to more waste collection.
By handing out containers, they began to sort all the waste
Residents are noticing a cleaner environment, which is another thing the survey revealed. This is noticed most by those who contribute to its cleanliness by handing in packages. 95 percent of the respondents who provided containers said that after the introduction of the deposit system, garbage has decreased.
Glass, plastic and can beverage packages participate in the deposit system. Their accumulation and addition contribute to the formation of all waste sorting habits - this is what 93% said. survey participants. By the way, the appearance of the deposit system mostly encouraged the youngest survey participants (18-25 years old), whose sorting habits are starting to settle, to look more responsibly at waste sorting.
This year, the survey of the opinion of Lithuanian residents was carried out by the company "Spinter research" on behalf of the USAD. A total of 1004 people were interviewed in different areas of the country, their age ranged from 18 to 75 years old. The purpose of the study is to clarify the habits and needs of using the deposit system.
