In Aarhus, Denmark a successful scheme which collects and washes cups for a small deposit has stopped more than one million so far from being binned
Each year 50 billion single-use drinks cups are used and then instantly binned around the world, littering parks, beaches and ending up in rivers and seas.
It is easy to forget about what happens to them after they have been thrown away. But their slow decomposition – especially those with plastic linings – can lead to the release of microplastics into the environment which can be disastrous for wildlife and also pollute our precious water systems.
Now one Danish city thinks it has the answer to solving the crisis. In Aarhus, the world’s first city-wide reusable drinks scheme has saved thousands from ending up in landfill – stopping pollutants from leaching into the ground and air.
Instead of chucking them away, locals use one of the 27 deposit machines in Denmark’s second biggest city to return them to be washed and sent back to retailers.
It is a simple system and the deposit – around 80 pence – is returned directly to your bank account by placing your credit card on the machine. Each time a hot drinks cup – with a plastic lid – or larger cups for cold drinks and beers are returned to one of the machines dotted around the country, they will be cleaned at a specialist depo and then redistributed to retailers.
READ MORE: Plastic pollution crisis being tackled by unique scheme in one part of UK
“Our working vision is a city without waste bins,” says Simon Smedegaard Rossau, Aarhus’s project manager for circular systems. “The time is right, no one wants the earth to be polluted by microplastic,”he added.
More than 1.25 million cups have been returned so far since its launch 18 months ago – the equivalent of 10,000 filled bins or 16 tonnes of waste. It has been so successful – with an 88% return rate – that other cities are keen to follow the model, with Lisbon introducing a reusable beer cup drinks scheme earlier this year.
The pilot programme in Aarhus set out to collect 500,000 cups in its first year, a target that was far exceeded as cups were returned 735,000 times, saving 14 tonnes of plastic from incineration and CO2 emissions.
For 2025, the final goal is to collect 1.5 million cups, with an additional 1.5 million planned for the third year. In the pipeline, Aarhus Municipality is looking to expand to other forms of food packaging including takeaway salad bowls.
Simon explained that one of the major factors behind the project was that nearly half of the total waste produced in Aarhus consists of drink and food packaging. A turning point came with the Aarhus Festuge festival, a huge street festival in the city, where businesses used only reusable cups. 100,000 cups were recovered during the weekend event, enough to fill 1,200 trash containers.
Simon added: “We need to make a mature choice to say we need to take a little bit of space here and there to minimise the growing waste crisis we’re seeing in all cities. If you’re a city official, you need to ask yourself ‘Where are we going to put all this waste that’s overflowing our streets?’”
Jenni Hume, Reloop’s Global Networks Director, an organisation which is working with the UK Government to accelerate a society free of plastic waste, said: “Systems designed to keep materials in use again and again help tackle the problems caused by the growing waste from single-use items. Denmark’s city-wide reusable cup system has already saved over a million disposable cups from being binned in under two years.
“Circular systems like this are the way of the future, and Reloop expects to see more of them across Europe as businesses back them and regulators introduce supportive policies”
Another lesson that could be learnt from Denmark is by looking to its successful national deposit return scheme that was introduced in 2000.
After numerous setbacks, Labour has passed laws to increase recycling of plastic bottles and drinks cans and reduce littering.
An eye-watering 31 billion single-use bottles and cans are purchased each year in the UK with plans in England to deal with them pushed back to October 2027.
But in Europe, the systems, known as a deposit return scheme or reverse vending machines, are so successful that in Denmark 93% of all drinks containers are recycled.
The consumer pays a deposit on a drink and this is refunded when they return the container – the major source of plastic pollution ending in rivers and seas – to a machine, normally in a supermarket or to a larger collection point.
Danks Returnsystem sees 5.6 million cans and bottles returned each year. In the capital Copenhagen, I witnessed just how easy the scheme is to use.
The 10 cents deposit is returned when put through a verse vending machine by scanning the product’s barcode.
Hanne Svenningsen, head of Environment and Policy at Danks Returnsystem, said the scheme “encourages people to return their empty drink containers, protecting marine wildlife from litter and making our beaches and parks more pleasant places to be.”
In Latvia, the deposit return scheme was only introduced in 2022 with a 62% return rate for the first year, jumping to 86% so far this year.
Diana Imaka, production and financial director of the Latvia system, said it had already significantly improved the littering problem on the streets.
A recent report by environmental organisation Reloop’s, ‘Littered with evidence’, which uses data from the Ocean Conservancy from Beachwatch data feeds into, found that on average the proportion of drinks containers littered was 54% lower in areas with a Deposit Return Scheme.
These schemes also mean drinks containers like cans and bottles can be recycled – reducing demand for new, raw materials – lessening the strain on our planet’s resources and lowering carbon emissions.
The Marine Conservation Society has led a decade-long campaign to get DRS implemented throughout the UK. Catherine Gemmell from the charity said: “Our State of our Beaches 2024 report revealed that drinks-related litter items were found on 96% of UK and Channel Island beach cleans. As well as spoiling our beautiful coastline, these items can pose a real problem to wildlife.
“Plastic bottles can break down into microplastics, which if ingested by marine animals can harm their health, while sharp edges on drinks cans may also injure wildlife. We are delighted that now – after years of campaigning, DRS is due to begin in October 2027 across all four UK nations. “
She added: “It was fantastic to see firsthand the positive impact of the DRS schemes in Denmark and Latvia. Everyone we spoke to said it’s so easy, and they’re seeing less litter on beaches and in the environment.”
“We’ll be responding to government consultations to make sure politicians across the country know about the huge benefits a well-designed DRS will bring.”