Greece Will Give You Back Up to 15 Cents for Every Empty Bottle
Every empty water bottle in Greece is about to be worth something. The country has approved a national deposit return system that will add 10 or 15 euro cents to the price of plastic bottles and drink cans, then hand that money back to anyone who returns the empty container.
The Hellenic Recycling Agency (EOAN) granted the license to DRS Hellas, the company that will run the system, in a board decision on Monday, November 9. DRS Hellas announced the approval on Wednesday, November 11, ending months of delays for a scheme that Greece first wrote into law in 2020.
How the Bottle Deposit Works
The system covers single-use plastic bottles and aluminum cans for drinks of up to 3 liters. Containers of up to half a liter will carry a deposit of 10 cents, and larger ones, from half a liter up to 3 liters, will carry 15 cents. That means a six-pack of 1.5-liter water bottles will cost 90 cents more at the register.
Shoppers get the full amount back when they return the empty container to an approved collection point. The refund comes as a return receipt that can be used toward purchases, rather than as cash. A bottle that goes in the trash instead of back to a return point means a lost deposit.
Glass bottles and milk cartons are not part of the system. Both were included in early plans but were dropped before the final design, according to Kathimerini.
Where You Will Return Bottles and Cans
Once fully built during 2027, the network is planned to have 8,700 return points in supermarkets, selected shops, public spaces and tourist areas. Kathimerini reports that about 3,700 of them will be automated reverse vending machines and 5,000 will be manual collection points. DRS Hellas says 65% of that network should be in place on launch day.
Restaurants, cafes and hotels will have their own collection arrangement. They account for an estimated 43% of the drink packaging that reaches the market, which makes them central to whether the scheme works. DRS Hellas is also discussing a possible takeover of the recycling kiosks run by Antapodotiki Anakyklosi, a private network already operating in Greek cities.
Visitors will notice the change too. Tourists buying bottled water on the islands or in Athens will pay the deposit like everyone else, and the plan puts return points in tourist areas so they can claim it back during their stay.
When the System Starts
There is no official start date yet. The license clears the way for DRS Hellas to build its network, and Greek media expect shoppers to start paying deposits sometime in 2027, with Kathimerini pointing to the summer. The launch has slipped before: the system was set up under Law 4736/2020, and its last target date, December 2025, passed without a start.
DRS Hellas was set up by 11 major Greek beverage producers together with the association of Greek supermarkets, and it says it does not distribute profits. The industry is expected to invest about €260 million, and the system should handle roughly 5 billion containers a year.
The goal is to collect at least 90% of covered containers separately from 2029, in line with European Union rules on packaging waste. Similar deposit systems already run in 19 European countries, and the Greek system's results will be reviewed after its first year.
Photo: Recycling machines in Athens, by Christos Vittoratos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
