From the quantity collected and sent to recycling stations, approximately 90% was directed to local operators, following the bottle-to-bottle principle, ensuring that the secondary raw material returns to the same type of product it came from.

"DRS is a national project with real impact on the entire collection-recycling chain and a transparent tool for tracking the quantities collected and directed for recycling. In the 6 months since its implementation, the Deposit-Return System has evolved constantly: 152,000 tons of packaging were placed on the market by producers, of which 34,000 tons were collected from the launch of the system until the end of May. Currently, approximately 2,000 daily trips are made by the 600 transport vehicles involved in the daily collection process of DRS packaging. About 85% of the collected packaging has already been directed to recycling units, the last stage of this complex mechanism, thus confirming the efficient operation of the Deposit-Return System", RetuRO stated in a press release on June 20.

According to the cited document, the quality of the secondary raw materials supplied by RetuRO is far superior to any type of material (PET, glass, metal) recovered through other collection streams, a fact confirmed by recycling operators.

"This generates a positive impact on their production process, for example, by optimizing energy consumption. Additionally, recyclers certify that the bales received through DRS also provide the necessary quantities to ensure a continuous recycling process. From the perspective of the circular economy, RetuRO ensures the return of materials to the market, as well as the transparency of the journey of these materials throughout the entire chain, from market introduction, collection, to recycling", the statement added.