PANT - How can the deposit-refund system reach a more circular plastic management?
The Swedish deposit-refund system is a well-functioning example of how a circular economy can be realized in practice through a smart technical, organizational and financial solution. This project investigates how the deposit-refund system can be developed to include a greater share of the consumed plastics.
Project name: How can a deposit-return system reach a more circular plastic management? An evaluation of different possibilities of developing the Swedish deposit return system
Project leader: Nils Johansson, SEED
Participating universities/companies/other organisations: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Project period: 2020-2022
Financing: FORMAS
The Swedish deposit-refund system (DRS) reaches high recycling rates and a large part of the returned waste becomes new, comparable products. The DRS is thus a good example of a circular economy in practice. At the same time, the deposit systems capture only a limited share of all plastic used in Sweden. Other plastics are difficult to recycle and risk therefore being incinerated. For this reason, the project aims to investigate whether the DRS should be developed and, if so, how the system can include additional types of plastic. In the project, different possible cases for developing the DRS will first be constructed based on different technical, economic, material and organizational choices. These cases will then be compared to determine its environmental potential, socio-economic costs and their interaction with prevailing norms, rules and policies.
Publications
-
Contact
