Hungary’s deposit return system (DRS) has reached a historic milestone. In 2025, consumers returned more than 3 billion beverage containers, including plastic bottles, metal cans and glass packaging, through MOHU’s REpont system, accounting for nearly 90% of all beverage packaging placed on the market, MTI reports.
Before the launch of the REpont system, only a small fraction of beverage packaging was recycled. Most bottles and cans ended up in mixed municipal waste, while some were discarded in public spaces or natural environments.
Thanks to the nationwide rollout of reverse vending machines, returned containers are counted, sorted and prepared for recycling, allowing the recovered material to re-enter the production cycle.
Return rate surges toward EU targets
By 2025, Hungary’s return rate reached 88.8%, a level that comes strikingly close to the EU’s mandatory 90% target set for 2027, two years ahead of schedule. Average containers per return stood at 23 per transaction, up from 18 in 2024. Annual per-capita returns is up at 310 containers, compared with just 101 in 2024.
Returns peaked during summer heatwaves and major holiday periods, with the highest activity recorded in holiday regions, Budapest and larger cities. July and August were the busiest months, while February saw the lowest volumes.
Billions of containers, nationwide reach
In absolute terms, 2025 saw over 1.5 billion plastic bottles, 1.3 billion metal cans, and more than 200 million glass bottles returned. To support growing volumes, the number of return points expanded by nearly 20%, bringing the national network to approximately 5,200 locations.
By the end of the year, REpont had 32,700 registered returnable products from 934 companies. Of these, 92% were single-use beverage packaging, and 8% were multi-use, refillable bottles.
