Customers Return 6 Mn Pieces of Drinks Packaging a Day

In the past few days, six million bottles and cans have been returned daily by customers, and the number of take-backs in Hungary has increased to 150 million in just a few weeks, Mol Waste Management Plc. MOHU has told MTI.

In a statement, the company stressed that the return system, besides its positive environmental effects, will also serve the domestic industry in the long run, because it measures and counts the beverage packaging waste and groups and transports them according to their material, and this can strengthen the domestic recycling industry and help its planning.

MOHU's commitment is to achieve a minimum 90% take-back rate in Hungary by the third year from launch.

According to figures, producers have paid more than HUF 5.5 billion in take-back fees as of August 16. The amount reimbursed to consumers has already reached HUF 7.2 billion, i.e. almost HUF 1.7 billion is advanced by MOHU to the producers, as the producers only pay this amount in arrears, on a monthly basis.

Almost 90% of the returns are made in the form of vouchers that can be redeemed in the shop. This amount has so far been more than HUF 6 billion. Around 13% of customers who redeem their vouchers transfer the money to a bank account and around 0.4% donate it to charity.

There are currently around 2,200 places where you can redeem packaging materials at machines and there are around 1,000 manual redemption points. The number is still growing and expansion is ongoing, with hundreds of new machines to be installed, MOHU said.