The Deposit Refund System (DRS) in Kosovo will soon come to Kosovo as well. This was announced by the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure of Kosovo, who gave more details about this system. This initiative has been welcomed by environmental protection organizations.
This ministry told KosovaPress that the application started on February 20 and that the deadline will be until August 26, 2024 for the application of the Administrator of the DRS system. According to the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, bottles must be made of glass plastic and aluminum and with a capacity between 0.25 and 2.0 liters.
“Deadline: Submission must be made by August 28, 2024… Direct submission: The application package must be submitted directly to the Ministry building at the address given below… Labeling: Both the printed document and the CD should be placed in an envelope clearly labeled “Application for Establishment of DRS Administrator”… Address for Submission:.. Review Committee for Establishment of DRS Administrator… Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure…In Appendix A1 – Declaration of Eligibility of Individual Members, member entities must declare that they are not in any of the above-mentioned situations…Number of applications… According to the provisions for the establishment of the Administrator:.. The private sector is allowed to submit one (1) joint application for the role of Administrator… Multiple applications from different consortia will not be accepted…
In particular, it deals with packaged beverages regulated by the Deposit Refund System (DRS), beverage containers made of i) PET plastic, ii) glass and iii) aluminum, with a capacity between 0.25 and 2.0 liters” it was said in a written response from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Valon Rehaj from the organization for the protection of the environment “Gjethi”, said that with this system the volume of plastic bottles will be reduced and that this will increase the awareness of the citizens. Rehaj said that this will be well received by the citizens as the citizens will be reimbursed for this.
Luan Hasanaj from Let’s Do It-Let’s clean Kosovo, for KosovaPress, has shown how the deposit refund system will be expected from citizens and adds that this system will make their work as an organization easier, because according to him, most of the waste they clean is plastic waste.
Hasanaj added that this will be a very good opportunity for the citizens as they will benefit financially from this. He further said that it is necessary for the ministry to launch information campaigns for citizens.
Meanwhile, the Director of “EcoZ”, organization that deals with environmental protection, Egzona Shala, told KosovaPress that such an initiative should have been implemented earlier and that this should be followed up with an awareness campaign.
Shala also said that the citizens who have started collecting plastic, glass and other bottles is too early since when this will be implemented, each bottle will have its own QR-code that will identify the production of those bottles.
