Advanced recovery fee and deposit systems are legislative instruments designed to create a way to sustainably finance waste management and recycling. In the Pacific, such systems currently operating are called a container deposit, beverage deposit, advanced disposal fee, or a waste levy.
The systems create a legal framework that provides households an incentive to recycle, as a deposit is placed on products on import or manufacture, typically included in the sale price. When the item is returned to a deposit location, a redemption of the initial deposit is paid back to the consumer. A small portion of the deposit is retained by the government to fund the collection, transport and processing of the item.
These systems have proven successful around the world to encourage recovery of end-of-life products, and to ensure governments have access to enough funding to ensure these items are diverted from landfills and successfully recovered for recycling.
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