About two years will be needed to introduce the deposit-refund system for reusable packaging in Belarus, Deputy Housing and Utilities Minister Vitaly Smirnov told the STV TV channel on 19 January, BelTA has learned.

The deposit-refund system is purely about environment and social responsibility. “It will take about two years for the deposit-refund system to be up and running,” Vitaly Smirnov said.

The deposit-refund system provides for a surcharge on a product (for example, a beverage). After consuming the product and returning the reusable packaging, a customer receives a refund. The goal is to receive back at least 80% of packaging. In the countries where such system is already in operation, a customer gets a receipt that can be put towards the cost of future purchases in a store where the packaging was returned. Belarus might also adopt this practice.

All the costs and investments of a business into the deposit-refund system have already been calculated. All the costs, including those of retail outlets, businesses, and manufacturers, are to be covered by the operation of the deposit-refund system.