The recycling system deals with 98.8% of deposit bottles according to the study, most of which customers return via reverse vending machine. With this in mind, Forum PET endorses continuance with the deposit system. On average, 95.7% of all PET bottles are collected separate—the remainder is disposed of in the household waste for conversion into energy.

The beverage industry is chiefly responsible for recycling used PET bottles with just over a third —34%—of the recycled material used in manufacturing new PET bottles. The proportion of recycled PET used increased in bottle production even with the price gap between virgin and recycled PET decreasing from the 2013 figure of 46%. The year 2015 saw PET bottles containing an average of 26% recycled materials compared to 24% in 2013.

“We would have hoped for an even higher increase, but we have to appreciate the PET industry’s commitment all the more considering the adverse price development,” says Schmidt; “The industry is committed to sustainability.”