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The Future Deposit, Return and Return Systems in Spain (SDDR)

FranciscoHurtado
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
‎2025 May 08 3:49 PM
599

Introduction

The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge in Spain (MITECO) defines the circular economy as a model in which the products, materials and resources are maintained in use as long as possible and the waste generation is minimised as much as possible.

The current economic model is a linear model, based on “take-manufacture-consume-dispose”, which is:

  • Aggressive with the environment and will deplete sources of supply, both material and energy.
  • There is a strong dependency on raw materials, leading to associated supply risk, high commodity prices and high volatility
  • Significant reduction in natural capital and economic losses.

The Spanish Circular Economy Strategy for 2030 defined by the MITECO, contributes to Spain's efforts to achieve a sustainable, decarbonised, resource-efficient and competitive circular economy.

 

Challenges for 2023

According to the “Report on the calculation of separated collection of single use plastic bottles for beverages during...” published by the MITECO, the percentage of separated collection of SUP bottles in Spain for the year 2023 is 41.3%:

  • Total Single-use plastic bottles (SUP) placed on the domestic market amount to 214.039 tons
  • The estimated total of SUP bottles collected separately by the Local Authorities amounts to 74.482 tons
  • The estimated total of SUP bottles collected through private/complementary collections amounts to 14.017 tons

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The Circular Economy Law (7/2022)  defined the expectation of 70% in the separated collection of single use plastic bottles by 2023, via SCRAP (Collective EPR Systems) such as Ecoembes and others.

Since the 70% goal was not reached (only 41.3% was achieved), the law defines the obligation to establish an SDDR system for single-use plastic bottles in a 3 year's timeframe. The deadline for this will be by November 2026.

 

Deposit, Return and Refund

In summary, the Deposit, Return and Refund Systems (or SDDR in Spanish for "Sistemas de Deposito, Devolución y Retorno") is a mechanism to manage used packaging, by which, the consumer will be charged with an extra price (deposit) when buying the bottles. This deposit will be refunded when the empty bottle is returned in the corresponding recycling points.

This mechanism was regulated in the Packaging Law (Royal Decree 1055/2022) for reusable packaging only. According to the art. 45.4 of the Packaging Law 1055/2022.

The packer companies or those companies introducing reusable packaging in the Spanish market (producer of products) are obliged to:

  • Collect from their customers, down to the final consumer, a deposit amount per packaging unit. Exception: in case the PoP keeps the ownership of the packaging and “leases” the packaging use to their customers, the deposit might not be charged if there is a commercial agreement guaranteeing the return of the packaging. This does nto apply to the HORECA channel
  • Accept the return of their reusable packaging only and refund the same amount charged as deposit in the first place. Exception: in case of packaging that are not usable anymore, the deposit might not be refunded.

The distributors, retailers or supermarkets are obliged to accept the return of the reusable packaging commercialised by them.

The expected business flow is the following:

  • Each EPR collective system (such as Ecoembes, Ecovidrio,…) will establish a deposit fee for the packaging (with a minimum of 10 cents).
  • The Packer companies (Producers of Products) have to pay the initial deposit upfront to the EPR collective system.
  • The Packer companies shall charge the deposit to the Sales channel (for example, supermarkets)
  • The Sales channel shall pay the deposit to the Packer company and will transfer it to the buyers.
  • The buyers will recover the deposit by returning the empty bottles in the supermarket recycling point.
  • The supermarket will refund the deposit to the buyer, normally not in cash, but via discounts. At this point in time, the supermarket has paid the deposit twice: first to the Packer Company, and second to the consumer via discounts.
  • The supermarket will “bill” the EPR collective system for the amount of deposits refunded, and will deliver the collected empty bottles.
  • The EPR collective system will refund the corresponding amounts to the supermarket.

FranciscoHurtado_1-1744629455997.png

 

VAT implications

According to the binding replies V1373-24 and V0362-16 by the Directorate of Taxes in Spain:

  • The deposit charged by the Packer Companies (Producer of Products) to their customers (distributors, retailers or end consumers) by packaging unit (bottle) is subject to VAT. Therefore, the VAT tax base amount shall include the deposit amount.
  • The deposit amount has to be explicitly stated in the Packer Company invoice.
  • The bottles sold by the Sales Channel to the final customers will be invoiced by the total price (including the deposit amount).
  • The return of reusable packaging to the Packer Company will imply the refund of the original deposit, which is actually a reduction of the tax base amount of the original invoice (article 80 of the VAT Law). This transaction will be documented by means of a correction invoice.

 

Open questions

The Packaging and Packaging waste regulation 2025/40 (PPWR), published on 19 December 2024 and effective as of February 2025, establishes a new European regulatory framework for packaging and packaging waste.  This regulation replaces Directive 2018/852 (PPWD, Packaging and Packaging waste directive).

The PPWR regulates that "by 1 January 2029, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure the separate collection of at least 90 % per year by weight of the following packaging formats made available on the market for the first time in that Member State in a given calendar year:

  • single-use plastic beverage bottles with a capacity of up to three litres; and
  • single-use metal beverage containers with a capacity of up to three litres"

In Spain, this PPWR regulation might impact the Packaging Law 1055/2022, so it is expected to have adjustments during 2025 and /or 2026. Until these adjustments are published by MITECO,  currently there are a number of open questions, such as:

  • Will a special reporting be needed for the SDDR fees, such as extensions of the Annex VI?
  • Will there be new invoicing requirements for the Producer of Products related to the SDDR fee?
  • Will there be additional requirements for SUP refunds?

Unfortunately, we still need to wait till the law adjustments are published to solve these questions.

 

References

 

DISCLAIMER. 

The links in the blog are external, so they may be modified at any time externally without previous notice.

This blog is meant for legal information purposes. It does not define any commitment to develop or deliver any of the functionality mentioned above.

 

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