The recyclable plastic deposit bottles launched at the turn of the year have been well received. Almost nine out of ten Finns say that they have heard of the new container type and two-thirds have already bought a beverage in a recyclable plastic bottle.
It’s most gratifying that as many as 89% of those who have bought recycled plastic bottles said they have already returned these new bottles to a return station machine. The source of this information is a follow-up study commissioned by Suomen Palautuspakkaus Oy (PALPA).
As many as four-fifths of the buyers of recyclable plastic bottles state that they always return the bottles they buy (one hundred per cent). This is a very high figure. The same study indicated that the return rate of familiar glass bottles and cans was equally high.
“One should keep in mind, however, that these figures are based on the respondents’ own answers. We’ll get the real figures on bottle returns only at the end of the year. At the moment, though, the situation looks really good,” says Pasi Nurminen, managing director of PALPA, which attends to the recycling of beverage packages with a deposit.
Consumer awareness about what condition the bottles have to be in when returned poses the greatest challenge. Almost half of the respondents did not know that the bottle and label have to be intact when returned.
“The bottle must have an intact label featuring a barcode and deposit symbol. These are necessary to prove that a deposit has been paid for the bottle. They also ensure that the bottle material is recyclable,” says Tapani Sievänen, development manager at PALPA.
Return station machines do not accept bottles without a label. This has irritated some consumers. The label is used to ensure that the recycled plastic material is of the right grade.
Young consumers have taken to the new beverage containers the fastest: as many as 87 per cent of those aged 15-24 have already bought recyclable plastic bottles. The consumers who most conscientiously returned the bottles are slightly older: as many as 94 per cent of those aged 25-34 who have bought recyclable plastic bottles stated that they had returned them.
There are no significant differences between how conscientiously men and women returned bottles. In geographical terms, the most conscientious consumers are to be found in eastern Finland. On the whole, though, Finns are eager to recycle.
“Finns have always been very much in favour of beverage packages with a deposit and recycling them. The new recyclable plastic bottles are considered to be environmentally friendly. Returning a bottle is seen as an act that helps the environment. The repayment of the deposit is the primary reason why many people return bottles, but environmental considerations are a close second,” says Communications Manager Johanna Ljungberg in reference to the study.
For additional information, contact:
PALPA, Managing Director Pasi Nurminen, tel. +358 40 7000 443 and Communications Manager Johanna Ljungberg, tel. +358 40 841 1314
www.palpa.fi