Deposit Return: An Essential Solution for Reuse and Recycling
Citeo welcomes the decision of the President of the Republic to launch a national consultation on plastics-related issues, including deposit return for recycling. This is a long-awaited decision, and it comes at the right time.
The diagnosis is clear and widely shared: France is paying €1.5 billion to the European Union because it is failing to meet its recycling targets. Only 30% of household plastic packaging is recycled. The collection rate for plastic beverage bottles has stagnated at 58.2% (ADEME 2024 data). The status quo is no longer sustainable. In this context, industry and retailers agree: a deposit return system for recycling is a necessary lever in support of the environment and the circular economy.
The performance leap France needs
Over the past six years, the collection rate for plastic bottles has increased by an average of just one percentage point per year, reaching 58.2% in 2024. Yet the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation sets a 90% collection target by 2029, after which deposit return for recycling becomes mandatory for Member States that fail to meet the target. At the current pace of progress, this objective remains out of reach.
Used alongside other measures, a deposit return system for recycling could by itself deliver an additional 10 percentage points in plastic recycling and 30 percentage points in aluminium recycling by 2030, representing more than 140,000 additional tonnes collected.
Beyond higher volumes, it would secure a stream of high-quality recycled material — a strategic issue for France at a time of increasing pressure on recycled raw materials across Europe.
A solution that works wherever it is introduced
Nineteen European countries have already introduced a deposit return system for recycling. Germany, Denmark, Finland and Estonia all exceed a 90% collection rate for plastic bottles; they are currently the only countries to meet the target that France must achieve within the next three years.
The impact can be rapid and substantial. Latvia, which introduced its deposit return system in 2022, increased its collection rate from 45% to 83% in just two years. In Ireland, which launched its scheme in 2024, the collection rate for plastic bottles rose from 49% to 92%.
Deposit return for recycling as a driver for reuse
Deposit return for recycling and deposit return for reuse are two different systems with different purposes: one recycles the material, while the other enables the container to be reused. However, they are based on the same consumer action and can reinforce one another.
Germany provides a clear example: by combining both systems, it collects more than 90% of its bottles while maintaining a 42% share of reusable packaging in the water sector.
Deposit return for recycling does not undermine reuse. Reuse will be essential to meet the European target of 10% reusable beverage packaging by 2030, as well as wider packaging-reduction objectives. Based on the same consumer habit and capable of being extended to additional packaging formats, the two systems can strengthen each other. To be effective, deposit return needs to work on both fronts.
A necessary, but not sufficient, condition
Deposit return is essential to achieving collection and recycling targets. However, it is neither a miracle solution nor a complete answer to the environmental challenge of packaging.
Reducing environmental impact cannot focus on bottles alone. France also needs to improve the collection and recycling of all plastic resins and all packaging categories. Deposit return must therefore be combined with other measures, including sector-specific reduction plans, pay-as-you-throw incentives, out-of-home collection and separate collection of cartons.
Citeo has identified 14 complementary measures in its roadmap, with the aim of reaching an overall packaging recycling rate of 84% by 2030, compared with 73% today.
Beyond deposit return: rethinking the system fairly
The announced consultation should enable a deeper discussion. Building an effective deposit return system is not about choosing between conflicting interests; it is about designing a comprehensive and efficient system in which everyone has a role to play, with citizens and the public interest at its centre.
The question is not only financial. It is also industrial, environmental, economic and territorial. Any rollout must take place within the framework of Extended Producer Responsibility and ensure fairness between all actors — producers, local authorities and operators — while guaranteeing an appropriate level of service for citizens.
“Citeo is fully committed to this process. Only a comprehensive, fair approach that respects all stakeholders will enable us to meet the challenges across all materials and plastics. This is what the dialogue launched by the President of the Republic must make possible,” said Antoine Fiévet, Chair of Citeo’s Board of Directors.
About Citeo
Since 1992, Citeo has been the approved producer responsibility organisation responsible for implementing Extended Producer Responsibility for household packaging and graphic paper in France.
A mission-driven company since 2020, Citeo develops and deploys practical, innovative solutions to support the reduction, reuse and recycling of household packaging for nearly 100,000 partner companies in the consumer goods and retail sectors.
Citeo works closely with stakeholders across the value chain to support eco-design, finance separate collection, structure recycling channels and encourage citizen participation. It mobilises companies, local authorities and citizens to develop solutions that combine environmental and economic performance. These efforts currently enable the recycling of 70% of household packaging and graphic paper. Citeo’s ambition is clear: to accelerate the transition towards reduced packaging and fully circular packaging systems.