Most of the plastic bottles sold in Finland were reusable up until 2008 or so, but now that the tax levied on non-reusable containers has been removed, most of the bottles appear to be of single-use variety.
According to PALPA, those single-use bottles do get returned (89%) nearly as well as the sturdier ones did. They just aren't reused as such but in production of plastics.
To reuse a aluminum soda can you need only 5% of the energy used to make the can.
97% of beverage bottles are recycled in Finland. Glass bottle gets reused on average 33 times.
Finland seems to be the world leader in this area.
Joining the Finnish beverage recycling scheme is very expensive. The industries own PALPA. If you want to join, you'll have to pay upfront your share of the investment expenses which the other have paid previously. The bottle stock is also very expensive. Materials plus 0,20€ per 0,33-0,5 litre bottle, 0,40€ for 1-2 litre bottle or 0,15€ per aluminum can. For example the German retail giant Lidl chose not to join this scheme. They do recycle their own bottles, but you can't return their bottles anywhere else.
Finnish numbers:
Aluminum cans: 92% recycled (Germany 96%, Belgium 93%)
Glass bottles: nearly 100%
Plastic bottles: 89%
To reuse a aluminum soda can you need only 5% of the energy used to make the can.
97% of beverage bottles are recycled in Finland. Glass bottle gets reused on average 33 times.
Finland seems to be the world leader in this area.
Joining the Finnish beverage recycling scheme is very expensive. The industries own PALPA. If you want to join, you'll have to pay upfront your share of the investment expenses which the other have paid previously. The bottle stock is also very expensive. Materials plus 0,20€ per 0,33-0,5 litre bottle, 0,40€ for 1-2 litre bottle or 0,15€ per aluminum can. For example the German retail giant Lidl chose not to join this scheme. They do recycle their own bottles, but you can't return their bottles anywhere else.