TEHRAN – The University of Tehran has held an event titled “Deposit Return Scheme Day” aimed to raise awareness about combating plastic pollution and recycling single-use beverage containers.

DRS entails adding a small deposit on top of the sale price for the beverage to be paid back in full when the empty bottle is returned by the consumer. 

Organized by Arman waste management company and supported by Connect platform, the event was held on February 17, bringing together over 150 national and international nominated participants including lecturers as well as experts from the Department of Environment, the vice presidency for science and technology, the ministry of tourism, and Tehran Municipality. 

DRS aims to ensure that empty bottles will be recycled in a systematic manner and it brought about more than 90 percent bottle recycling in Norway, Germany, and Finland to name a few, while more than 50 countries in the world have the system.

There have been activities focused on this matter in Iran in the past few years with the first national DRS conference held at the Iran University of Science and Technology in 2022 followed by the Iran DRS Pilot Project in the same university in 2024.

This year’s event can be considered the third milestone in the Iranian journey towards the DRS materialization, Mahdi Darab the director of the event and the DRS Pilot Project leader told the Tehran Times.

Distinguished Iranian academicians including Dr. Ehsan Houshfar, Mr. Mohammad Darvish, and Dr. Hossein Akhani, expressed the benefits of the DRS system for Iran by looking at the global trends and outcomes.

Also, Mr. Jeff Angel (from Australia), Ms. Clarissa Morawski (from Canada), and Mr. Merijn Tinga (from the Netherlands) addressed the event. Jeff Angel presented the highlights of the DRS activities in Australia with the emphasis on teamwork spirit and the results of the successful systems, leading to more provinces joining the scheme.

Clarissa Morawski, a well-known environmental expert gave a speech on the global trend for DRS as well as the best practices for a successful DRS implementation.

Dutch biologist and campaigner, Merijn Tinga, highlighted his activities in the fight against plastic pollution in the Netherlands, France, and England. He encouraged everyone to join forces to better manage the waste.

The event was concluded by honoring the best student recyclers and the organizers of the DRS Day.

MT/MG