700 million bottles in six months

Written by Christina Vontin

In just six months, the concessionaire has achieved a remarkable result in the take-back system for drinks packaging.

The company is pursuing the ambitious goal of recycling at least 90% of beverage packaging in Hungary within three years and ensuring that illegally disposed waste disappears from the environment. There are currently 4,400 return points across the country, of which around 1,400 are operated manually. Vouchers remain the most popular method of redeeming deposits. So far, customers have received around 30 billion forints (approx. 73 million euros) back in deposits, of which around 15-17% opt for a bank transfer. In addition, customers have donated almost 90 million forints to charitable causes, particularly child health.

The MOL MOHU Group has installed nearly 40 billion forints worth of reverse vending machines across the country. This will enable Hungary to achieve the 90% take-back rate for PET bottles required by the EU by 2029.

The company is investing several hundred billion forints in the coming years to improve domestic waste management. There are plans for 83 new waste collection centres and additional energy recovery plants with a volume of 360,000 tonnes. The fleet of waste collection vehicles will also be expanded, while the number of textile containers is to be quadrupled to 6,000 by 2026.

Interestingly, not only the retail outlets obliged to do so, but also other facilities such as petrol stations and homeless shelters have shown interest in take-back options. It is estimated that more than 3 billion drinks containers are in circulation in Hungary every year. While the old system was only able to collect 30-40%, MOHU is aiming for the EU quota of 90% by 2029.