PET Bottles and Cans Will Be Deposited from 2022

Bratislava, September 11 (TASR) - Starting from 2022, disposable beverage containers are to be deposited in Slovakia, based on a bill submitted by the Environment Ministry that was approved by MPs on Wednesday. A deposit should be 12 cents per PET bottle and 10 cents per can. The cost of implementing the system should be €80 million. According to the new legislation, not all stores and operations have to introduce deposits. It will only be mandatory for those over 300 square metres. However, the ministry assumes that many smaller stores will take over the system over time. Approximately one billion PET bottles get into circulation in Slovakia in one year. Separate collection yields an approximate return of 60 percent. If the return was 90 percent, the bottles collected in this way would be able to fill, for example, Bratislava's Freedom Square to a height of 22 metres. am/mcs