The brewing industry is sounding the alarm about an acute shortage of glass bottles.
Now all Swedes are encouraged to order them.
– Eight million bottles are thrown away every year for recycling, even though they can be ordered. You have to turn the bottle to find the symbol, says Anna-Karin Fondberg, CEO of Sweden’s breweries.
The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have led to a shortage of glass bottles.
– The demand for glass has increased steadily. The pandemic and the war have become the last straw. There are not very many glass manufacturers in the world, says Anna-Karin Fondberg.
The trade association Sveriges bryggerier is now appealing that the bottles that can be ordered should not be thrown away in the recycling.
– You must distinguish between disposable glass and return glass. If you throw a return glass, you have destroyed the whole point. They can be reused on average 40 times after washing, says Anna-Karin Fondberg.
According to Sweden’s breweries, 25 percent of all depositable glass bottles disappear every year. The majority, 86 percent, are bottles purchased from Systembolaget.
– The waste is almost exclusively beer bottles of 50 centilitres, both from Systembolaget and the grocery trade. Some bottles of 33 centilitres can also be ordered, but there the loss is much lower.
So how do you know if your bottle can be ordered? The answer is on the back where a pawn symbol is printed on the label.
This is what the pawn symbol looks like. Photo: Sweden’s breweries
– You have to turn the bottle over, but it’s worth it. There are many well-known brands that can be ordered. For example, Mariestad, Eriksberg, Norrlands Guld and Falcon at 50 centilitres and Loka at 33 centilitres, says Anna-Karin Fondberg.
The deposit is 60 öre for the small bottles and 90 öre for the large ones. This means that Swedes each lose more than seven million kronor in collateral only for bottles of 50 centilitres.
– Above all, we want to emphasize the sustainability aspect, but it is of course sad for the consumer to lose their deposit that you actually paid for when you bought the bottle.
Where do you deposit your glass bottles?
– It is done in own pawn machines that are more often found at large pawn shops in, for example, shopping centers than in the local grocery store.
Footnote: Here there is a list of all depositable glass bottles sold at Systembolaget.
Facts
This is how the glass deposit works
check A total of just over 32 million liters of beer, water and soft drinks are sold in recycled glass bottles every year. In Sweden, there are two return systems for glass bottles. One concerns the 33 cl glass bottle that is in a red tray, the other applies to the 50 cl bottle that is in a blue tray.
check Placed in their jaws, the returnable glass bottles are easy to recognize, but when unpacked on the shelf it can be more difficult. Glass that can be ordered has a symbol on the label that indicates it.
check Return glass pantas in store. Many smaller stores no longer handle the return system, but the larger ones accept.
(Source: Branschorganisationen Sveriges bryggerier, TT)
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