The news about the deposit system successfully operating in Lithuania also reached Australia - the Minister of Environmental Protection of Western Australia, Stephen Dawson, visited the country, who aims to have it implemented by 2020. such a system would also start in Western Australia. "We want to learn from the best", this is how the minister described the purpose of the visit.
The deposit system in Lithuania has only been in existence for three years, but the high and very quickly achieved collection rates constantly attract the attention of other countries.
"We want to introduce a deposit system in Western Australia, and the news reached us that Lithuania is one of the world leaders in this field, so we came to learn what is necessary and what is not necessary to do, so that the collection and recycling rates are as high as yours", said the Western Australian minister
The delegation also met with the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection, Dalius Krinickas, and got acquainted with the work of the Užstato systemos administratorius (USAD), which administers the system.
"We want to be as good as the Lithuanians"
“Collection and recycling rates in Western Australia are very low, with a lot of packaging ending up in landfill. We want to protect our environment and leave it for future generations. Society also wants changes. We don't have as many lakes as here in Lithuania, but we see how our beaches are polluted by plastic waste.
Other parts of Australia have different bail systems. They work well in one place, not so much in others, and we want to be the best in Australia - as good as the Lithuanians," said S. Dawson.
"Lithuania's experience in implementing the deposit system is the freshest - we did it just 2 years ago. In addition, our results exceeded expectations and forecasts, so Lithuania's example is seen abroad as a success story and everyone cares to know the reasons for this success," says Gintaras Varnas, head of the non-profit organization USAD.
This year, they plan to collect 93 percent. packaging
Currently, the deposit system operates in all Scandinavian countries, Finland, Germany, Holland, Estonia, Croatia and Lithuania. Scotland and the entire northern part of the United Kingdom promise to introduce it in the near future. Belarus and other countries are also preparing for such changes. The deposit system also operates in Israel, separately JAV states, Canadian provinces and territories.
"After 2006 Lithuania is the only one in Europe that has introduced a deposit system, but I think that in the coming years more and more countries will switch to this system - the European Union is purposefully moving towards a circular economy, and for now there is no more efficient way to collect and transfer beverage packaging for recycling", says G. Varnas .
Since the start of the bail system in Lithuania, USAD has already collected 1,15 billion. plastic, can and glass packaging. Last year, 92 percent was collected. of all packages released to the market, this year it is planned to increase this indicator to 93 percent. Although Lithuania introduced the deposit system recently, according to these indicators, it is approaching the old-timers and pioneers of the system.
In Lithuania, there are almost 1000 collection points with taromats and another 2000 manual collection points. In May, when the weather warms up, USAD collects an average of 1,8 million each day. packages, and on weekends this number exceeds 2 million. limit.
