How does the bottle deposit (pant) work in Norway?
What pant is, what you can return and how you get the money back.
Short answer
Pant is a NOK 2 or NOK 3 deposit on plastic bottles and cans, which you get back by returning the empties to a machine in most grocery shops. You get a receipt to use in the shop or a payout in the app. Tourists can do the same, but only containers with a Norwegian deposit label are accepted.
Why
- Infinitum, which runs the deposit system, says that plastic drinks bottles and aluminium cans carry a symbol: a circle with the word PANT and the deposit amount.
- You can return bottles and cans at shops with reverse vending machines and other approved collection points, and Infinitum says most grocery shops accept the most common ones.
- According to Infinitum, more than 90% of all drinks containers in the system are returned and recycled.
Details
Glass bottles have their own system and are not part of it, and nor are milk cartons, food tins or bottles over 3 litres. Slightly dented bottles and cans are accepted as long as the barcode can be read. Swedish drinks registered in the system are accepted, but no deposit is paid for them.
Tip
Do not crush bottles and cans before you return them: the machine has to read the barcode to pay the deposit.
Common misconception
Bottles and cans bought abroad can be returned for money in Norway.
What actually happens
Only bottles and cans with a Norwegian deposit label give money back. Foreign containers without the label go in the ordinary waste.
People also ask
- What is pant in Norway?
- How do you return bottles and cans in Norway?
- Can tourists return pant bottles in Norway?
- Do tourists get the bottle deposit back in Norway?
Sources
- Infinitum: What can be depositedChecked at:
- Infinitum: Frequently asked questionsChecked at:
- Infinitum: Where to return bottles and cansChecked at:
- Infinitum: The deposit systemChecked at:
This answer is for reference only. Rules can change, so check Infinitum before you travel.
Waste sorting and pant in NorwayRelated questions
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Trondheim kommune marks all its public toilets in parks, green areas and public spaces on an online toilet map, which also shows fees and accessibility.
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Where can I return a whole bag of bottles at once in Norway?
You can empty a whole bag at once into multi-feed reverse vending machines such as the TOMRA R1, which some larger supermarkets have, among them Obs Lillestrøm.
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Oslo's Asian and Indian grocery shops are easiest to find in Grønland, east of Oslo Central Station, where the city says import food shops are concentrated.
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In Norway you can buy demineralised water, which has its salts and minerals removed, at Biltema, which sells it in 5-litre cans with its battery accessories.