The practice that worked well in Scandinavia came to Lithuania. The "Tomra R1" taromat, which can accept and scan not one, but dozens of deposit packages, started working on Wednesday in Vilnius, near the shopping center "Rimi Northern town" Žirmūnai.
One of the leaders in waste collection and recycling technologies in the world, the company "Tomra" has been taking care of taromats in Lithuania since the beginning of the deposit system in 2016. Užstato systemos administratorius (USAD), which administers the deposit system in Lithuania, decided to take an important step with this partner this year - to install the first R1 model taromat, which is distinguished by the fact that it will be more convenient for the user - it will accept a large amount of packages at once.
According to the head of USAD, Gintaras Varnas, the new taromat was installed taking into account the results of tare collection points and the location in the city. The new technology will be the first to be tested by Vilnius residents, who are used to returning the containers in Žirmūnai, at the taromat located next to the "Rimi" store (Žirmūnų St. 64). Over 100 cans and PET plastic bottles can be stacked in the new taromat through the wide opening. In less than a minute, the equipment will scan and count the deposit packages, and then a receipt will be printed. The usual "Tomra T9" taromat will also operate nearby, to which residents can return glass bottles, as well as PET and metal packaging in smaller quantities.
It is noted that only deposit packages made of PET plastic and metal cans can be added to the new R1 model device.
"I hope that the first taromat of the new model in Vilnius will repeat the success already recorded in Scandinavia - this innovation encouraged people to participate more actively in the deposit system and return more packages. And more returned packaging means a cleaner nature and higher volumes of recycling, because each returned packaging soon turns into a valuable secondary raw material from which a new product can be made," says G. Varnas.
“The deposit system is an important part of our sustainability journey. We are all working together to improve recycling rates for beverage packaging. Therefore, the start of the innovation here in Žirmūnai makes us very happy. We believe that the new facility opens up an opportunity for us and the residents to support the circular economy more strongly. Our employees are ready to help everyone who brings packages to the container collection points located near our stores", says Eglė Krasauskienė, head of public relations at Rimi Lietuva. She is happy that it was in the "Rimi" shopping center that the first taromat of the new generation in Lithuania began to operate, which will allow the return of PET and metal packages much faster and more conveniently.
According to her, the taromata next to the shop, located at the intersection of P. Lukšios and Žirmūnai streets, is valued by Vilnius residents for its spacious and comfortable parking lots. It is actively used both by customers who are used to returning just a few deposit packages, and by residents of more remote parts of the city who tend to accumulate more containers over a longer period of time.
"It's very important to us how people will be able to use the new device. Therefore, we will pay special attention to analyzing the user experience, we will periodically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this collection point. Later, the devices of this model will be able to be installed by renovating or installing new tare collection points, thus increasing the capacity of taromats and the convenience of residents", emphasizes G. Varnas, head of USAD.
PET plastic bottles and aluminum cans account for the majority of all returned packaging. According to USAD, last year people in Lithuania returned more than 672 million. units of deposit packages, of which more than 93 percent consisted of PET plastic bottles and aluminum cans. In total, 345,4 million containers reached collection points last year. of PET plastic packaging and 281,7 million aluminum cans.
