| Law Summary | The Republic of Palau Public Law - RPPL No. 7-24; program outlined under 2009 Beverage Container Recycling Regulations |
| Date Implemented | Law passed 10/22/2006; confirmed in 2009, and implemented April 2011 [1] |
| Containers Covered |
All containers made of the following materials: [2]
|
| Beverages Covered |
|
| Beverages Not Covered |
|
| Refundable Deposit |
10¢ USD / 5¢ USD* *Consumers receive 5¢ USD back at each bottle's return. |
| Fees and Taxes |
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| Unredeemed Deposits | Kept by State Government. |
| Recovery System |
Return to redemption center. |
| Program Success |
2018 Overall Results: [3]
|
Details
In an effort to reduce waste headed towards the island republic's limited landfill space, the Palau government sought to find a solution to divert its imported beverage containers, which included over 11 million aluminum cans. [4] A bottle deposit program was first introduced by the Senate Committee on Youth Affairs and Social Welfare, before being passed and signed into law. Although it was passed in 2006, regulations for the container recycling program were not passed until 2009; it was fully implemented in 2011.
Currently, there is one national redemption center, located on Koror Island. This is run by the state of Koror, under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce (MPIIC). [5] An exclusive service contract was also issued to the Palau Waste Collection Company for the final collection and export of containers off the island. [6]
Under Palau's program, the deposit is not paid by the consumers, but instead the distributors who import beverage containers. This fee may be passed onto the consumer but is not implemented equally across stores. [7] Consumers can then redeem their containers at the National Redemption Center to receive half of the deposit back. If the total price of the containers is less than $50 USD, then the consumer will immediately receive their deposit in cash; otherwise, a check will be mailed to them at a later date. [8]
Footnotes
[1] "Pacific WasteLine Issue 2 Regional Waste Management News: Palau." Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. (SPREP). June 2011.
[2] "Global Deposit Book 2020: An Overview of Deposit Systems for One-Way Beverage Containers." Reloop Inc. December 15, 2020.
[3] Ibid.
[4] "Manual for Beverage Container Deposit Fee Program." Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce and Koror State Government. November 2013.
[5] "Beverage Container Fee Program." Koror State Government. Last updated 2017.
[6] See footnote 4.
[7] See footnote 4.
[8] See footnote 5.
Last Updated on May 22, 2023.