Latvia's Environment Ministry to prepare cash deposit return plan for drink bottles

Take note – story published 6 years ago

The Latvian Environment Ministry plans to prepare a scenario for introducing container deposit scheme where people would be paid for depositing beverage packaging, the ministry’s representative Laura Jansone informed LETA.

The plan is to be prepared by March 1, 2018.

"Based on a collective public initiative signed by 10,594 residents, Saeima commissioned the ministry to analyze the legislation in the respective area in the Baltic states and prepare a report on the necessary amendments to the Latvian legislation and the principles for introducing packaging deposit system," said Jansone.

Representatives of the ministry in July visited Estonia and Lithuania to get acquainted with their experience in the area.

The ministry at present is working on the report.

"The packaging deposit system model could be similar to that of Lithuania, considering that waste management system and its development is similar to that in Latvia. Collection of packaging will be conducted both manually and through reverse vending machines depending on peculiarities of each individual sales point and location," the ministry’s representative said.

Meanwhile LTV's De Facto on October 29 reported extensively over Latvia's attempts to introduce a cash deposit scheme, which has been successfully implemented in Lithuania and Estonia.

The report points at extensive lobbying as one of the root causes for the fact that Latvia has failed to introduce the system that first cropped up in the political agenda close to fifteen years ago. 

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