Volta - Portugal says YES to the deposit return scheme
Volta - Portugal’s deposit return system
Anyone buying a plastic bottle or drinks can in Portugal has been paying an automatic 10-cent deposit since 10 April 2026. No big drama but a real shift in how the country handles single-use packaging. The goal is straightforward: that empty bottle should find its way back, not end up in a roadside ditch or washing up on a Portuguese beach.
What exactly is "Volta" ?
"Volta" means "return" in Portuguese and that's precisely what the system is designed to do. The Sistema de Depósito e Reembolso (SDR) is Portugal's official deposit-and-return scheme for single-use drinks packaging, and it covers the whole country, from Lisbon and Porto to the Algarve and the Azores.
The scheme applies to all single-use drinks containers under three litres made from plastic (PET), aluminium, and steel, so your everyday water bottles, soft drink cans, beer bottles, and energy drink tins. Glass bottles and cartons such as Tetra Pak are not included.
How the return process works
Buy:
When you purchase any drink in a Volta-labelled container, a deposit of €0.10 is automatically added to the price at the till.
Keep:
Hold onto your empty bottles and cans and make sure they are uncrushed, dry, and still have their cap and barcode intact.
Return:
Drop them into a reverse vending machine or hand them in manually at any participating supermarket, café, or one of the 48 large collection kiosks across Portugal. You can find your nearest return point here: https://volta.com.pt/en/where-to-return/
Get your money back:
The machine compresses the packaging and issues a deposit voucher. You can either cash it out or put it toward your next shop.
One thing to keep in mind: Each voucher expires after one year.
Why now and why Portugal?
Portugal is the 19th country in Europe to introduce a nationwide deposit-return scheme. The move comes four years later than originally planned, but it is finally here. The EU has been pushing for higher collection rates for years: by 2029, 90 percent of all single-use bottles must be collected separately, and by 2040, bottles will need to contain at least 65 percent recycled material.
Until now, Portugal had no such system in place, with predictable consequences for littering rates on its beaches and in its cities. That is about to change fundamentally.
„This is one of the largest environmental projects in Portugal’s history.“
What happens to the returned bottles?
Returned containers are logged at counting and sorting centres before being processed into food-grade secondary raw materials. The goal is for that material to feed directly back into the production of new drinks bottles, creating a genuine closed loop. Already 90 percent of soft drink, water and beer producers have signed up to the scheme, along with 80 percent of retailers.
Wrapping up
Whether you are visiting Portugal or have already made it your home, the deposit is now added automatically at the till and getting it back is just as simple. Reverse vending machines are available in supermarkets and shopping centres across the country, from Lisbon to the Algarve and from Porto to the Azores. Worth knowing: the Azores actually started preparing for the scheme back in October 2025 and already have 71 collection points up and running.
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