Tartu teen turns deposit bottle returns into doorstep pickup business
A ninth grader in Tartu has launched a doorstep pickup service for deposit bottles, turning a simple idea into a growing small business.
Enriko Ots, a student at Tartu Hansa School, came up with the idea after noticing classmates throwing away deposit bottles at school. In Estonia, eligible bottles are worth 10 cents each.
"They were just throwing them away every day, and I thought, why?" he recalled. "So I turned it into a business and started offering [the service] to others too."
Ots created a Facebook group, "Taarakullerid Eesti," where customers can request and schedule pickups. The response was immediate, and overwhelmingly positive.
"We got a lot of clients and saw huge immediate growth," he said.
His classmate Rasmus Koort works a runner for the service, picking up deposit bottles from customers across town. According to Ots, no job is too tough for him to tackle.
"It's a way to earn money, but you also gain experience," Koort added.
The service launched in February and has operated as part of a school project since March. Homeroom teacher Kristina Ausen said the initiative also helped spur practical questions about earning money.
"When they started making money, they began asking what comes next," Ausen said, adding that the students had questions about things like the legalities and taxes involved. "So we turned it into a project about ways to earn pocket money."
Satisfied customers
Since then, they've actually come quite far. In just a few months, the students have collected and returned around 15,000 bottles and cans.
The service costs €1 plus 25 percent of the returned bottles' deposit value. The runner will calculate the total, deduct the fee and send a photo of the receipt back to Ots, who then notifies the customer.
He added that only a couple of customers have questioned the pricing; the rest have been satisfied with the service.
The 9th grader said he is not taking profits yet, instead reinvesting in the business, including building a website for placing pickup orders. Runners currently earns €1.50 per completed job, plus extra in case of additional challenges.
If customers choose not to reclaim their deposit, the runner can keep half of the refund value.
The school project runs through June. After graduation, Ots' teacher added, they'll decide how to continue the business on more formal footing.
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Editor: Karmen Rebane, Aili Vahtla
