Small stores do not have room for bottle dispensers. A solution has been created to meet this requirement
According to Returmatic estimates, even 30-40 thousand. small shops, pharmacies, workplaces and other points in Poland could join the deposit system, but will not do so due to the lack of space for installing stationary RVM machines for collecting deposited packaging or the costs associated with it. The solution for them may be mobile bottle dispensers and settlement centers, which have already proven their worth in other European markets.
– The deposit system came into force on October 1 this year. Before its entry into force, there was huge chaos, which is the biggest challenge for, among others, retail chains that are covered by this obligation. You have to find your way in all this. The system is still being developed, so there are many questions and there will be more. The second issue that entrepreneurs must face is the cost of implementing this system. This includes, among others: to ensure that it functions properly in commercial units, perhaps equipping such a store with a stationary machine to operate this system, the so-called RVM. According to our observations, the market will be dominated by manual collection, including: due to the cost of implementing so-called RVMs – Michał Jurczok, president of Returmatic Polska, tells the Newseria agency.
The deposit system covers all plastic bottles up to 3 l, metal cans up to 1 l and reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 l. Stores over 200 sq m. are obliged to accept packaging, smaller ones can join the system voluntarily. According to data from the Central Statistical Office, there are over 300,000 in Poland. stores, the vast majority of which are outlets up to 100 sq m, as well as 11 thousand pharmacies and over 1 thousand pharmacy points. It is in these establishments that the cost of several dozen thousand zlotys for a vending machine and the lack of commercial space are the biggest barriers to joining the deposit system.
As the expert emphasizes, at the beginning of the system there are no uniform solutions for the smallest facilities. They can conduct manual collection, but this means having to allocate space for bags with packaging and additional duties for employees. Many owners fear that customers will choose points with an easier return option and thus lose some of their turnover. This raises the question about alternatives – and this is where mobile systems that have proven their worth in the West come into play.
– The campaigns that preceded the implementation of the deposit system built awareness that this system could only function based on stationary devices. So the traditional model is RVM in a trading unit, plus logistics, plus a settlement center where these packages will ultimately be delivered and settled again. Our model is slightly different, we can provide comprehensive services to an entrepreneur without implementing an RVM device – says the president of Returmatic Polska.
– Our solution works in practice like a courier who drives his car to a given point, collects the packaging, counts it in our device and destroys the packaging. This is a counting and anti-fraud service that is impossible with manual collection. A mobile van that has a reverse vending machine and is able to handle all packaging included in the Act on the deposit system in Poland – explains Patryk Beyer, operational director of Returmatic Polska.
This solution allows smaller shops and pharmacies to participate in the system without blocking space and without incurring investment costs.
– Mobile settlement centers, which are an alternative to traditional large settlement centers, reduce investment costs and significantly reduce operating costs for deposit system operators. These technologies offer more efficient packaging collection than manual collection from collection points. This allows you to speed up collection and increase the number of packages collected at the collection point. At the same time, it is possible to reduce the environmental impact of the collection, emphasizes András Bednár, international sales manager of Returmatic Solutions.
– We estimate the potential for mobile vans that will primarily support manual collection, because this is the most important thing for us, at approximately 30-40 thousand. points – these are shops, pharmacies, workplaces or, for example, prisons. We want to automate manual collection, says Patryk Beyer.
Mobile bottle dispensers can also support large networks with installed RVMs. They can use them, among others: to verify the correctness of counts or during periods of increased traffic, e.g. before holidays or long weekends.
– An interesting recipient of our service may be mass events where there is a large consumption of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. We can operate at such an event in a model where we provide several of our vans with a capacity of 10,000. packaging within eight hours – says Michał Jurczok.
In the traditional model, it may take approximately 30 days for operators to settle the deposit. For small stores, this means the need to freeze capital and finance deposit payments to customers from their own funds. On a national scale, these are hundreds of millions of zlotys that remain “frozen” in the system.
– The entrepreneur must have the deposit settled very quickly. Each time he makes a purchase at a wholesaler or elsewhere, he leaves a deposit there, and in the meantime, he pays the deposit to the customer who brings the bottles to him. Therefore, it freezes its funds that could be used for business development. With our settlement, we guarantee a quick return of the invested deposit – says the president of Returmatic Polska. – We will strive to have the deposit transferred to the entrepreneur's account within a few hours.
Foreign experience confirms that it was the speed of settlements and a dense network of packaging collection points that determined the success of the system. In Lithuania, the recovery rate increased from 74%. in the first year of operation of the system up to 92 percent in the second, and in Estonia it has remained at a level close to 90 percent for years. In Ireland, where the system has been operating since February 2024, only the network will be expanded to include stores below 250 sq m. allowed us to achieve over 100 million returns per month. Experts emphasize that it was crucial to include thousands of small points in the system and simplify procedures.
Security is another condition for an efficient system. If bottles are not destroyed immediately, they run the risk of being reintroduced and double returned. Therefore, in Germany and the Nordic countries, machines crush the packages upon receipt, and in Estonia they all go to the central settlement center. Mobile bottle dispensers eliminate this risk by destroying packaging on site, which increases the credibility of the system and consumer confidence.
– Interest in a mobile solution is currently very high. We have entered the final stage, and entities that offered stationary solutions have been very active on this market in the long term. We hold a number of meetings and receive a lot of calls, both from large companies and small entrepreneurs who want to find their way in this system. There is a great awareness that someone who finds himself outside the system may lose a customer – said Michał Jurczok during the official presentation of the new solution on the Polish market, which took place in Warsaw.
