Pantamera
In Sweden, we’re already great at recycling bottles and cans. But the national targets are ambitious – every single can and PET bottle should be returned.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to begin working with Pantamera, with the mission to inject new energy into both the brand and the act of recycling itself.
Our concept: “Pantamera – Recycling is a hit.”
We connected music, culture and sustainability – and turned a good habit into something people could actually feel good about.
Sweden’s smallest climate move(ment)
Every time you recycle a can or bottle, you save a little CO₂ – and over time, those small actions add up to something huge.
In 2020 alone, Sweden’s bottle and can recycling saved 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of the annual emissions of a small Swedish town.
Since the deposit system was introduced, we’ve returned over 41 billion cans and bottles. That adds up to a total carbon savings of around 3.5 million tons of CO₂.
The reverse vending machine – a brilliantly simple innovation
The first reverse vending machine was introduced in 1984. Since then, old cans have become new cans, and used bottles have been turned into new ones – over and over again.
It’s a small act with a big impact. Recycling this way saves huge amounts of energy and significantly reduces our climate footprint.
Just like groundbreaking innovations such as the carbon capture plant in Iceland or the solar power tower in the Negev Desert – the reverse vending machine proves that smart ideas don’t always have to be complicated.
