Retail and Horeca: Expanding the deposit-refund system
20.12.2018
In addition to the customs tariff item 22 subject to the beverage container tax, Palpa is expanding the deposit-refund system to apply to fruit and vegetable juices as well as juice and beverage concentrates and glögg concentrates.
Accepted containers will include the Palpa return system’s current container types of aluminium cans, PET plastic bottles and glass bottles. Products of the product groups may be recognized as being subject to a deposit the same as the beverage containers that are already part of a deposit-refund system.
Registration of items included in the new product groups commences on 20 December 2018. Palpa will approve new products for the deposit-refund system on the 15th of each month (or on the last weekday preceding the 15th). Products may be sold subject to a deposit after they have been approved for the deposit-refund system.
Products in the new product groups will gradually become subject to a deposit, according to each beverage manufacturer’s or importer’s own schedule.
Recognizing a product as being subject to a deposit
With cans and plastic bottles, the containers subject to a deposit can be recognized based on the deposit marking on their labels.
Glass containers registered using a national barcode (the product is only sold in Finland using the barcode in question) also feature a deposit marking on their labels.
Glass containers registered using an international barcode (the product is sold globally using the barcode in question) do not have a deposit marking on their labels. In this case, a product may be recognized as being subject to a deposit based on a marking on the shelf or on the receipt for purchase.
Whether containers are subject to a deposit may also be checked using the Palpa online tool.
Sorting containers into transport units
Containers for the new product groups are sorted into transport units the same as the containers subject to a deposit that are already part of the deposit-refund system.