Latvians fail to return deposit packaging worth €7.5 million each year
Each year, Latvian residents do not return around 75 million beverage containers covered by the 10-cent deposit scheme. That is 15% of all deposit-bearing packaging, equal to €7.5 million.
In Latvia, where beverage packaging carries a deposit fee, residents fail to return roughly 75 million containers to the deposit system every year. Buyers paid 10 cents on each of them at the time of purchase, but that money is never reclaimed.
The unreturned packaging makes up 15% of all containers subject to the deposit fee. In monetary terms, it comes to €7.5 million per year.
What the figures show
The calculation is straightforward: 75 million containers multiplied by the 10-cent deposit gives €7.5 million. This is the amount consumers pay but do not get back because the empty packaging is not handed in.
The source does not say where this packaging ends up or who is entitled to the unclaimed deposit funds.
