Austria Raises Beer Bottle Deposit
The deposit on the classic 0.5-litre beer bottle will rise from 9 cents to 20 cents, effective from 2 February.
Austria’s domestic breweries are set to raise the deposit on the classic 0.5-litre beer bottle from 9 cents to 20 cents, effective from 2 February.
Karl Schwarz, chairman of the Brewers’ Association, explained in a statement on Friday that the low deposit had led to an increase in people discarding bottles instead of returning them. The association has said this is costing the industry millions of euros.
The timing of the deposit increase – the first in over 40 years – had been kept under wraps until now.
It will apply to glass bottles currently carrying a 9-cent deposit in return machines. This includes 0.5-litre beer bottles, white glass bottles with screw caps and many 0.33-litre bottles. According to the Brewers’ Association, around 90% of these bottles are beer containers.
Florian Berger, managing director of the Brewers’ Association, said: “We expect the higher deposit will shorten return intervals.” The association believes the increase will encourage more bottles to be returned, saving valuable resources in the energy-intensive production of glass bottles. Reusable glass bottles can be refilled up to 40 times.
Since early January, Austria has also introduced a new deposit system for single-use plastic bottles and aluminium cans, with a universal deposit of 25 cents.
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