Hungary’s bottle-recycling system could be facing a major change, with cash payments for returned bottles and cans potentially abolished at REpont collection points.
Cash could soon disappear from Hungary’s bottle recycling scheme
MOHU, the company responsible for Hungary’s deposit-return system (DRS), is proposing that the government remove the option of receiving the 50-forint deposit in cash. Instead, consumers would be able to use a voucher for shopping or have the money transferred to their bank account through the REpont app. Donations to charity would also remain available.
The proposal comes amid growing concerns in Budapest about people collecting returnable bottles from bins and the associated problems of litter, damaged rubbish bins and public safety. Also, several claims have arised that many of those spend the money from collecting and recycling these bottles on drugs.
MOHU proposes ending cash payments
Csaba Bozóki, MOHU’s director responsible for the deposit-return system, announced the proposal in a Facebook video, arguing that cash is not necessary for the system. Under the current rules, a voucher issued by a reverse vending machine can be redeemed for cash at the relevant shop. Changing this would require an amendment to the government regulation governing the scheme.
According to reports, MOHU has already discussed the proposal with representatives of Budapest and its districts. A joint proposal from MOHU, the capital and district municipalities could eventually be submitted to the government.
Bottle collecting and recycling has become a problem in Budapest
Since the HUF 50 deposit was introduced in 2024, the system has dramatically increased the collection and recycling of drinks packaging. However, it has also created a new phenomenon in Budapest, where people search through rubbish bins for returnable bottles and cans. Several district mayors say this has contributed to litter being left around bins, containers being damaged or overturned, and additional pressure on local cleaning services.
Terézváros (District VI of Budapest) Mayor Tamás Soproni previously called for the recycling system to be temporarily suspended until the problems could be addressed. The government rejected that idea, while MOHU has stressed that the deposit-return system is required by EU rules and cannot simply be abolished, as HVG.hu reported.
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MOHU: The system did not create the underlying problems
Bozóki has argued that homelessness, drug addiction and deep poverty in central Budapest are not new problems caused by bottle returns.
“These are very important social problems that we need to talk about,” he said, while stressing that a solution should involve local authorities, social organisations and the authorities. Supporters of removing cash payments nevertheless believe the measure could reduce the incentive to collect bottles from bins for immediate cash.
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Who could be affected?
Critics warn that eliminating cash would make the system less accessible for some people. Those without a bank account or smartphone, or those who simply want their HUF 50 deposit returned in cash, could face additional difficulties. The proposal would therefore change how people receive their own deposits without addressing the wider issues of homelessness, poverty or drug use.
The government now faces a choice over whether to amend the rules. If the proposal goes ahead, cash could soon disappear from Hungary’s REpont system, leaving shoppers with vouchers, bank transfers or charitable donations as the main alternatives.
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I do not recycle on principle. Most of this stuff ends up being “recycled” onto ships to the Far East, where it gets burned or buried in landfills.
I also refuse to, effectively, work for far less than the minimum wage. Between having to rinse out the items, store them, bag them, walk to the recycling point, wait on line, feed the items into the machine, and then walk back, I would need to have literally a couple hundred bottles and cans per trip to make it make financial sense. Yeah. No.
Keep your 50 forints and eff off.
I also crush the cans and scratch off or remove the labels on bottles, so the bums digging through trash and making a mess can’t use them, either.
Oh, and I snap off bottle caps and throw them away separately from the bottles, sometimes on the ground. I feel like a jerk doing the latter, to be honest, but I’ll be damned if this motherf…ng E.Yuck is going to impose these petty rules on my life, which don’t even achieve the stated purpose (look it up – a Swedish study!), aside from being super inconvenient.
Usual complete BS from our Russian troll account here. Bottles under the new recycling system are recycled effectively locally in Hungary or in EU, that is a fact.
Recycling is good for nature so I am happy about this system, but what would Russians care about nature.
Fact: In Russia, most bottles that could be recycled go into landfills.
you don’t need to feel like a jerk Steiner
you are one 🤣🤣🤣
Don’t forget that Orbán followed this EU rule only to benefit from the millions of Ft generated out of it alongside his oligarch
Steiner why don’t you move to Serbia where you might be happier, out of the clutches of the horrible EU and put your money where your mouth is by living in unregulated places, living in the worst air quality and dirty environment you would seemingly rather be living in rather than contributing positively
This would be a wonderful idea that would remove a BLIGHT on Budapest. If this new procedure were to be implemented, it would still allow low income people to use the money for food, but remove the incentive for buying alcohol or drugs with the proceeds. It would dramatically change our urban environment for the better, reducing erratic behavior, littering, public substance abuse and a lot of human tragedies that we are forced to witness every day.
Anatole France :
“La loi, dans un grand souci d’égalité, interdit aux riches comme aux pauvres de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain.”
A törvény, az egyenlőség iránti mély aggodalmában, megtiltja gazdagoknak és szegényeknek egyaránt, hogy hidak alatt aludjanak, az utcán kolduljanak és kenyeret lopjanak.
The law, in its deep concern for equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. And now to receive cash for can-and-bottle recyclables.
* * *
Every hand extended to the miserable must be slapped away. Ah, Budapest ! Ah, Hungary !
Crushing cans and removing the labels for no return is actually working for less than the min. wage!
The problem of drugs in Budapest it’s becoming a serious problem, it was not so visible as for today. It’s horrible to see kids consuming this sheets. District 7 is full with consumers. and dealers. I hope the authority will take action.