Building a Deposit-Refund System (DRS) for Closed-Loop Recycling of Water Bottles in the United Arab Emirates

Water bottles are widely used in the Gulf countries. One estimate indicates that the water bottle usage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may reach up to 250 L of water per person annually. Generally, the water bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a recyclable material. Because of the non-availability of a powerful incentive system, these recyclable water bottles are often disposed of in landfills. This paper proposes a feasibility study of building a Deposit-Refund System (DRS) to encourage the closed-loop recycling of 0.5 L PET water bottles in the UAE waste disposal system. Water bottles are collected by a reverse vending machine (RVM) and recycled to produce PET bottles, and the proposed system will reward consumers with 0.04 United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) per deposited water bottle. Additionally, this study calculates the cost of 100% virgin polyethylene terephthalate (vPET) and 60% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles based on the UAE population, data obtained from local water bottle companies, and existing research. Adopting this DRS will cut down on waste, protect the environment, improve the manufacturing process of water bottles, and boost the local economy.