Infinitum was established by beverage manufacturers and grocery chains in Norway to drive efficient collection and recycling of beverage bottles and cans. The “pant” system motivates Norwegians to return drinks bottles or cans to the supermarket by refunding deposit paid when purchasing the drink (bottle/can).

An investigation made by The Guardian revealed that 1m plastic bottles are made around the globe every minute. And that figure is only likely to increase after it emerged that fossil fuel companies are investing billions of pounds in new plastic production facilities in the US.

The Norwegian pant system is simple, but relies on the initiative and collaboration of several different actors:

The government places an environmental tax on all producers of plastic bottles. The more they recycle, the more that tax is reduced. If they collectively recycle more than 95% – which they have done every year since 2011 – they do not have to pay the tax.

Producers of plastic bottles which want to be part of the scheme [more than 99% in Norway] have to use approved labels, bottle tops and glue to improve and streamline the recycling process.

For the customer the deal is equally straightforward. A small deposit of about 1-2 NOK (Norwegian Kroner) depending on size is paid on each bottle. People can then return it to a machine or over the counter where they bought it. A barcode is read and they are handed a coupon or cash.

All stores which sell bottles are also obliged to collect them. Many bigger stores have installed machines that scan, crush and pack the bottles ready for collection. Today a “pant” machine for returning bottles exist in almost all daily shops.

The transport from the store utilizes free space in the trucks that have delivered goods, and which are going back to the wholesale warehouse. From the wholesaler, the empty goods are taken on to Infinitum's sorting facility.

Sorting takes place at Infinitum's three facilities in Bjerkvik, Trondheim and Fetsund. Plastic and aluminum are separated and further compressed for volume-efficient transport to recycling.

Infinitum´s success is unarguable:

- Annually, Norwegians “pant” (return) over one billion bottles and cans.

- 97% of all plastic drinks bottles in Norway are recycled, 92% to such a high standard that they are turned back into drinks bottles.

- Some of the material has been recycled more than 50 times already.

- Less than 1% of plastic bottles in Norway end up in the environment

Even with the success of Norway’s scheme there are still challenges. Recycled material only provides 10% of the plastic used in bottles in the country, becuase the rest of recycled plastic is exported in other countries in which there are no deposit schemes or to companies that downgrade it to lower demand uses thus prematurely ending its life. It is the retail and beverage industry’s clear wish that as much as possible of the returned material should be turned back into new bottles here in Norway, instead of being exported.