Eunomia Research and Consulting were commissioned by Recycling Netwerk to review the current landscape surrounding serialised Deposit Return Systems (DRS). Classic DRS, widely implemented in Europe and beyond, involve consumers paying a nominal fee for beverage containers, later refunded upon returning the empty container to designated points, typically retail locations. These systems contribute significantly to recycling and anti-litter initiatives by delivering high return rates of high quality material.

Serialised DRS would involve a new approach where each container in the system has a unique identifier. In addition, specific serialised DRS proposals typically propose to use the new labelling technology to enable alternative return pathways. For example, consumers enabled with a bespoke app could scan containers and redeem deposits independently of any central return points. This could in principle link the DRS to existing collection systems for households, with redeemed containers then placed in existing recycling collections from households. 

However, delivering a serialised DRS poses considerable technical and practical challenges, with additional uncertainties regarding its behavioural effectiveness. This report emphasises the importance of evaluating unique serialised DRS proposals based on technical feasibility, consumer acceptability, and likely performance. The report establishes clear criteria for such assessments, providing a comprehensive framework to evaluate the merits of different proposals. This framework is developed with the Belgian serialised DRS proposal specifically in mind, highlighting the challenges and uncertainties that exist in that case.