Danish citizens returned a record 2.2 billion bottles and cans in 2025, the highest level ever recorded by Dansk Retursystem, the non-profit that manages the country’s deposit return system.
This represents an increase of 88 million items compared to the previous year, and a significant increase on the 1.4 billion that were returned in 2019.
‘Greater benefits’
“The more Danes deposit, the greater the environmental and climate benefits we can achieve,” commented Kasper Qvant Schmidt, CEO of Dansk Retursystem.
“When bottles and cans are deposited instead of being thrown away as waste, we can keep the beverage packaging in a closed loop. This means that they can be recycled in the highest quality and become new cans and bottles again, which saves raw materials and energy. That is why it makes a big difference that Danes deposit to such a large extent.”
Nine out of every ten bottles and cans consumed were returned last year, the group noted, which corresponds to one Danish citizen returning one piece of packaging every day.
EU requirements
Despite this achievement, Dansk Retursystem noted that new EU regulations require that reusable bottles account for at least 10% of beverage packaging by 2030, rising to 40% by 2040, a move that it said will increase costs for breweries and retailers, while offering limited climate benefits.
It cited a recent life cycle analysis conducted by the Danish Technological Institute, which suggested that there is no evidence that reusable bottles in Denmark produce a lower climate impact than current recyclable packaging, and would require manufacturers to develop new bottling lines, washing facilities, and additional logistics.
“We already have a circular infrastructure that benefits both the environment and the market,” Schmidt added. “Introducing more reusable glass bottles will not provide real climate or environmental benefits, but will instead impose large costs on Danish breweries, reduce the efficiency of the deposit and return system and ultimately lead to higher prices and poorer choices for consumers.
“Therefore, the Danish Parliament and the next government should seek an exemption from the EU Commission so that bottles and cans in the deposit and return system are exempted from the EU’s recycling requirements.”
Around 95% of Danes currently support Dansk Retursystem’s efforts, with 93% believing that it is ‘worth the effort’ to deposit bottles and cans. The group is seeking to achieve carbon neutrality in the coming years – by 2030, it plans to fully offset its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and is in the process of converting to a 100% electric vehicle fleet.
While it operates as a non-profit, Dansk Retursystem is owned by the country’s breweries, and has the exclusive right to operate a deposit and return system for certain types of beverages in Denmark. Read more here.
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