Why the interest? High returns on deposits? In Israel, people just toss their recyclables in the garbage.

The system of deposits paid on returned packages has proven to be very successful in Finland. In 2010 the Finnish people returned 98 percent of the bottles and cans belonging to the system.

– From an international viewpoint, the Finnish deposit system on packages is top of the world. While the Finnish people recycle over 90 percent of all aluminium cans, in West Europe the average is mere 60 percent. Other Nordic countries have a similarly functional recycling system for their bottles and cans. However, the further south in Europe, the smaller the recycling percentages.

– In other parts of the world bottles and cans aren’t recycled as efficiently. In the United States a deposit system for beverage packages is in its place only on the east and west coasts.

From the beginning of 2008 disposable bottles, which are re-useable as raw material, were declared as tax free. This has introduced a whole new wave of single-use bottles, which are made of PET-plastic. These disposable bottles are re-used in making new plastic bottles as well as being turned into packaging material for the food industry.