Addressing plastic waste challenges in Greece
Greece faces an urgent challenge in managing plastic waste, with a significant portion still ending up in landfills. Through the transposition of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive into the national legislation, the Greek government has committed to introduce a DRS for recycling of beverage containers. This will mark a milestone in Greece’s sustainability path and will make the Hellenic Republic one of the first Mediterranean countries to implement such a system. A DRS will represent an opportunity for Greece’s tourism-driven economy, by protecting its pristine environment and increasing its overall circularity performance.
TOMRA's role in achieving circularity
Deposit return schemes, a cornerstone of TOMRA's expertise, have demonstrated their effectiveness in increasing the collection and recycling rates of beverage containers, thereby reducing the environmental impact of plastic waste.
These schemes operate by having consumers pay a small, refundable deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale. When consumers return the empty containers to designated locations, they receive their deposit back. In Norway – where TOMRA pioneered the first fully-automated reverse vending machines – the collection rate for plastic bottles is as high as 98%.
Beverage containers recycled through reverse vending machines are collected and sorted most effectively – without contamination from other types of waste. This ensures that they can be recycled into new bottles and cans again and again. TOMRA calls this process “Clean Loop Recycling”.
