As of 2024, the government’s Waste Act, amended in 2021, will make glass, plastic bottles, and metal beverage cans compulsorily returnable, according to a statement from the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Office (MEKH).
The amount of all municipal waste collected as part of public waste management services exceeded 3.270 million tons last year, mixed waste still accounted for a significant part of this; the amount of municipal waste per person was 336.11 kilograms.
In Hungary, in 2021, in addition to 27 waste management public service providers, 78 public service subcontractors performed waste management public service activities, and in addition, another 80 facility operators cooperated in the provision of the activity.
32 percent of the waste falling within the scope of waste management was utilized, while the proportion of waste transported for disposal was 60 percent in 2021. The remaining 8 percent is made up of the technological loss resulting from the nature of the waste, as well as the amounts placed in temporary storage.
In 2021, the government amended the waste law, which treats waste as a raw material for the transition to a circular economy. With this, manufacturers are encouraged to reduce the generation of waste already during production and, where possible, to use it as raw material as much as possible.
Glass, plastic bottles, and metal beverage cans will soon be recyclable again.
The regulation also encourages the recycling of beverage packaging and makes bottles, plastic bottles, and metal beverage cans compulsorily returnable from 2024. The planned introduction of the redemption system can also represent an important step forward in order to realize the circular economy.
MTI
