Denmark – new tool for regulating disposable packaging for beer and soft drinks

The Danish Government is about to strengthen enforcement efforts towards restaurants and kiosks that do not comply with the rules on deposits to be paid for beverage containers. Recently, Minister for the Environment Connie Hedegaard submitted a draft statutory order for hearing among the parties involved. The order will enable the Danish Customs and Tax Administration to confiscate cans and other non-returnable packaging for beer and soft drinks that do not have a label showing that a deposit has been paid. In addition to seizure, dealers who break the deposit rules will be fined.



The Danish deposit and return scheme works very well. It reduces the number of empty containers discarded as litter, and, thus, protects nature. In spite of the ban on sale of beer and soft drinks without a deposit label, a number of shops and restaurants undermine the scheme. Efforts have been made for a long time to give advice and guidance in order to persuade them to comply with the very clear deposit rules, but stricter measures are required in order to force those who cheat to comply with the rules. Cheating should not be worth the effort.



Shops that break the rules by selling beer and soft drinks without the deposit label are distorting competition, and consumers are not quite certain about the way they should dispose of the packaging. With the introduction of the new rules, inspection and enforcement of the deposit rules will be strengthened. The new rules are part of the government‘‘s Fair Play Initiative. In the future, the major actor, the Danish Customs and Tax Administration, will visit shops and restaurants and confiscate illegal beverage containers.



Normally, correct deposit labels indicate that all amounts – taxes, customs and VAT – payable for labelled containers have been paid. With the power to confiscate non-labelled packaging, the authorities will have a more efficient tool in their investigation of possible non-compliance with the tax rules.



The new statutory order entered into force in mid-July 2005.



Further information: Danish EPA contact person: Pia Lisbeth Nielsen (email: pln@mst.dk)



More details



In introducing the Fair Play Initiative the Danish Government has improved possibilities for ensuring compliance with the deposit and return system for packaging for beer and certain types of soft drinks. The Fair Play Initiative has also improved possibilities for making enforcement more effective in cases where the rules in this area are contravened.



In the beginning of 2002, the Government lifted the so-called "tin-can ban" on beer and certain types of soft drinks. At the same time, Danish breweries were given permission to use disposable packaging on the Danish market. Before 2002, only importers were allowed to do this (tin cans excepted), as long as the importer established their own deposit and return system for the disposable packaging in question.



However, the permission to use disposable packaging for beer and soft drinks on the Danish market was given on the condition that the practice of collecting and reimbursing deposits on refillable packaging had to continue as previously. Dansk Retursystem A/S was granted the sole right to operate the deposit administration and collection system for empty disposable packaging.



Therefore, disposable packaging is labelled according to special rules laid down in Statutory Order no. 713 of August 24, 2002 on deposits and collection etc. of packaging for beer and certain soft drinks (Statutory Order on the Deposit and Return System). Accordingly, three deposit labels are used (deposit A, B and C), depending on the volume of the packaging. This makes it very easy to determine whether disposable packaging has been labelled correctly, and whether the correct deposit is being collected.



If disposable packaging is labelled correctly and lives up to the requirements of the<