Lessons from Lithuania to the most economically powerful region in China

Lithuania’s Results have Changed the Opinion

“Up until know we have been considering various packaging handling possibilities. However, after getting familiarized with the results in Lithuania and gaining knowledge about the system through observation, we have saw that deposit system is an extremely effective method for packaging handling”, – Hu Ruisheng, the Vice-Governor of Guangdong Province having 104 million residents, following the visit in Calculation Centre of Public Institution “Užstato sistemos administratorius”, said.

Chinese delegation, including representatives of Guangdong Foreign Affairs Service and Environmental Protection Department, talked about intentions to implement such system in Guangdong, a province which for the last 29 years has been generating the highest GDP in Mainland China. In fact, calculations made several years ago showed that if Guangdong would be an independent state it would be the 16^th largest economy in the world.

Lithuania’s Success Inspires Other Countries

Recently, the popularity of deposit system, especially in Europe, has been growing. It has been also attracting more delegations visiting Lithuania in order to gain experience in effective packaging handling. Several months ago, a delegation from Australia visited the country, also, representatives from France, Scotland and other countries expressed interest in “Užstato sistemos administratorius” activity.

“Firstly, each country intending to introduce effective packaging handling system wants to see where else it is operated successfully. We did the same thing. In principle, two things are at the centre: who has the freshest experience and who is the most successful. We can offer both.

It is true that our packaging collection results are not yet the best, but, in a couple of years, we have achieved indicators that nobody else has been able to achieve within this time frame. Therefore, Lithuania’s results are considered a success story”, – the Head of “Užstato sistemos administratorius” Gintaras Varnas said.

Non-profit Public Institution “Užstato sistemos administratorius”, which started its activity in 2016, has already collected 1.3 billion disposable glass, plastic and metal packaging. Only last year, “Užstato sistemos administratorius” collected 92% of packaging put on the market. This year, it is expected to increase this indicator up to 93%.