Infinitum and Norway’s Deposit-Return System

Food & beverage, Consumer goods

What is it?
Infinitum operates Norway’s national deposit-return system for beverage containers. Consumers pay a small deposit on plastic bottles and aluminum cans, which is refunded when the empty container is returned through reverse vending machines or retail outlets. Infinitum manages the design standards, deposit transactions, collection, sorting, and recycling.

The system is widely recognized as one of the best in the world. In 2023, 92.3% of plastic bottles and 92.5% of cans sold in Norway were returned, representing over 1.54 billion containers (Infinitum, 2023). Return rates above 95% eliminate producer environmental levies, creating strong incentives for compliance (Infinitum, n.d.).

Building on this success, Infinitum has started to extend the deposit model to other formats. In 2022, more than two million recyclable festival cups were collected under Infinitum’s system, testing whether disposable cups at events can be integrated into the same loop (Infinitum, 2022).

Why is this important?

• Demonstrates how system-level infrastructure can deliver exceptional circular outcomes.
• Reduces littering and ensures containers are recycled into high-quality secondary materials.
• Provides a model for other countries seeking to comply with EU recycling and packaging targets.
• Shows how established circular systems can be adapted to new packaging types, such as cups.

Main resource strategy
Closing the loop – capturing bottles, cans, and now cups through deposit return and high-quality recycling.

Other resource strategies

• Narrowing: lightweight packaging design reduces material use.
• Slowing: extension to reusable formats, such as cups designed for multiple use cycles before recycling.
• Regenerating: lowering the need for virgin plastic and aluminum extraction.

Business model aspects

Value Proposition

• For consumers: reclaim deposits through a simple, widely available system.
• For producers: avoid environmental levies by reaching high return rates.
• For retailers: meet legal requirements while supporting sustainability.
• For society: cleaner environment, high recycling rates, and resource efficiency.

Value Creation & Delivery

• Approximately 3,900 reverse vending machines and around 11,500 manual return points across Norway (Infinitum, 2023; Tomra, 2024).
• Centralized sorting plants, such as Skurve and Fetsund, using advanced optical sorting technology (Pellenc ST, 2024).
• Packaging design guidelines covering labels, adhesives, and materials to ensure recyclability (Infinitum, n.d.).
• Deposit and fee systems that create financial incentives for both producers and consumers.

Value Capture

• Revenues from deposit flows and resale of high-quality recycled PET and aluminum (Infinitum, 2023).
• Environmental levies scaled down as return rates improve (Infinitum, n.d.).
• Increasing system efficiency as volumes and compliance grow.

Strategies for degrowth / sufficiency
By reducing the need for virgin materials, Infinitum supports sufficiency in resource use and lowers the environmental footprint of beverage packaging (Reloop, 2019).

Business model experimentation practices

• Continuous adjustment of deposit fees and packaging requirements (Infinitum, n.d.).
• Testing of new container formats, including recyclable cups at festivals and events (Infinitum, 2022).
• Collaboration with international partners to transfer knowledge and practices (Reloop, 2019).
• Iterative improvements in sorting technology and logistics (Pellenc ST, 2024).

Tools, methods and approaches used

• Reverse vending machines with automated refund systems (Tomra, 2024).
• Life cycle assessments comparing deposit return with alternative collection systems (Reloop, 2019).
• Producer responsibility mechanisms linked to return performance (Infinitum, n.d.).
• Communication campaigns encouraging high return rates (Infinitum, n.d.).

Sustainability outcomes

• Over 90% return rates for both bottles and cans for more than a decade (Infinitum, 2023; Reloop, 2019).
• 1.54 billion beverage containers returned in 2023 (Infinitum, 2023).
• High-quality PET and aluminum recycled into new bottles, cans, and other products (Infinitum, 2023).
• More than two million recyclable cups collected in pilot projects, indicating potential for expansion beyond beverage containers (Infinitum, 2022).
• Significant reduction in littering and carbon emissions from packaging production (Reloop, 2019).

Sources:
Infinitum. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://infinitum.no/media/d4dese5n/infinitum_a-rsrapport_2023_en.pdf

Infinitum. (2022). Annual Report 2022. https://infinitum.no/media/vanibhxu/infinitum_annualreport_2022_pages.pdf

Infinitum. (n.d.). The Deposit System. https://infinitum.no/articles-in-english/the-deposit-system/

Tomra. (2024). Norway’s Deposit Return Scheme. https://www.tomra.com/reverse-vending/media-center/feature-articles/norway-deposit-return-scheme

Reloop. (2019). Infinitum: A World-Leading Deposit System. https://www.reloopplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/INFINITUM.pdf

Pellenc ST. (2024). Infinitum: Most advanced sorting plant. https://www.pellencst.com/infinitum-most-advanced-sorting-plant/

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About project Circular X 

Project Circular X is about ‘Experimentation with Circular Service Business Models’. It is an ambitious research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) which supports top researchers from anywhere in the world. Project CIRCULAR X runs from 2020-2027. The project is led by Principal Investigator (PI) Prof Dr Nancy Bocken, who is joined by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at Maastricht Sustainability Institute (MSI), Maastricht School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University. The project cooperates with businesses who want to innovate towards the circular economy.  

Project Circular X addresses a new and urgent issue: experimentation with circular service business models (CSBMs). Examples of such new business models include companies shifting from selling products to selling services and introducing lifelong warrantees to extend product lifetimes. However, CSBMs are far from mainstream and research focused on experimentation is little understood. The research aims to conduct interdisciplinary research with 4 objectives:  

1. Advancing understanding of CSBMs; their emergence and impacts  

2. Advancing knowledge on CSBM experimentation  

3. Developing CSBM experimentation tools 

4. Designing and deploying CSBM experimentation labs 

Funding source  

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement No. 850159.   

Using this information 

When you cite this publication, please use the following source: 

Circular X. (2026). Case study: Infinitum and Norway’s Deposit-Return System. Accessed from www.circularx.eu