Environment minister rules out scrapping bottle deposit scheme

Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho has rejected calls to end the "Volta" packaging deposit-refund scheme, launched in April, saying it is EU-mandatory and working well. Her comments follow a request by Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas to scrap it immediately over urban hygiene pressures. Carvalho said the scheme has already reached a 44% return rate, above the 40% year-end target, covering 304 million packages. She argued underlying waste problems, not the scheme itself, are to blame, and said the government is studying solutions used elsewhere, including Denmark, such as separate collection containers.