Liverpool supporters found an unexpected source of cashback during their Champions League away trip to Austria, after LASK’s deposit system for reusable drinking cups turned discarded beer cups into refundable deposits.
Reports said many fans spent the evening and the period after the match gathering cups from the stands and concourses so they could claim the cashback. The scheme gave supporters a practical reason to collect containers that might otherwise have been left behind.
Deposit system tied to plastic-free stadium model
LASK has promoted a plastic-free stadium model and uses a deposit system to encourage the return of reusable containers. In this case, the deposit value created a direct incentive for fans to bring cups back rather than discard them.
The episode also sits within a wider discussion of circular-economy measures in football. UEFA has said it is placing greater emphasis on such measures at its club competitions. Liverpool, meanwhile, has been publicising its own recycling record at Anfield, saying that more than one million plastic bottles have been recycled there over the past three seasons.
The Austrian match showed how a deposit-return system can operate in a busy stadium setting: cups collected from seating and concourse areas become a stream of returnable containers, and fans receive the cashback attached to them. The approach does not by itself establish the overall environmental impact of the match, but it provides a concrete example of how return incentives work in practice.