Gove considering plastic bottle deposit scheme

[Amp34]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41474334

The government is to consider whether to introduce a "reward and return" scheme for plastic bottles to try to improve recycling rates.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove appealed for views on how such a system might work in England.

The Scottish and Welsh governments have recently said they are also considering introducing a deposit scheme, an idea backed by drinks giant Coca-Cola.

Greenpeace backed the move, but retailers said it would hit customers.

Speaking to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Gove said action was needed to protect marine life from plastic waste.

"That means tackling the rise in plastic bottles entering our waters by making it simpler and easier to recycle and dispose of them appropriately," he said.

The government said deposit schemes - which involve a small surcharge paid by consumers being refunded when bottles are returned - had been successful in other countries.

Only 57% of plastic bottles sold in the UK in 2016 were collected for recycling, it said.

Personally I think it's a great idea and should have been done a while ago. It could also be extended to cans, glass and tetra bottles too, although they don't have the same environmental issues as plastic.

It's done in Canada and in many parts of Europe, amongst others, where recycling is in the 90%'s

For the consumer it really doesn't cost much more, an extra 5-10p on a bottle, which is returned when taken back to a depot, so I think retailer complaints are a bit thin.

Would you be for or against such a scheme?

 

[Delvis]

Seeing as I've been putting recycling into my council provided bins for the last 15 years I'd be a bit peeved off if others are getting money for it.

If I can get money for filling my recycling bin up every month then I'm all ears!

 

[d_brennen]

Maybe. I don't want to be lugging bags of bottles back to queue at a supermarket for £2 back though. Maybe a study on the environmental impact of different packaging materials, such as glass and plastic etc. Perhaps if only glass were allowed, and was recycled everywhere by default, everything would be better?

 

[Feek]

Weren't we doing this thirty years ago with glass bottles?

 

[bremen1874]

I'd have to make a special trip to get my refund.

My shopping is delivered and all of the used bottles currently go into the council recycling bin.

 

[Flubble]

i'll throw my plastic recycling bin into the sea and do this instead

 

[Glaucus]

good idea,

even better would be to standardise bottles and make them easily refillable and look at the best material to do so. Then if a company wants its own design of bottle they pay a nice tax to do so.

I'd have to make a special trip to get my refund.

My shopping is delivered and all of the used bottles currently go into the council recycling bin.

or the supermarket can just take the bottle away and take it off your bill, like ocado do with bags.

 

[Hades]

Weren't we doing this thirty years ago with glass bottles?

Yup. My parents used to do it. I'd often take them back for them. It's a win for everyone as bottles get recycled, we produce less waste and the shop gets more footfall.

 

[Thekwango]

Weren't we doing this thirty years ago with glass bottles?

We were. I remember as a young lad me and a couple of mates would regularly go 'on the hunt' for glass bottles that had been discarded and we would hand back in to the local shop for the 10p or whatever it was on each bottle we got.
Used to be a nice little booster to our pocket money!!

Edit:

Yup. My parents used to do it. I'd often take them back for them. It's a win for everyone as bottles get recycled, we produce less waste and the shop gets more footfall.

Exactly. If, for arguments sake, we gathered up a quids worth of bottles we almost always spent it on sweets in the shop where we'd just 'cashed in'
Brilliantly simple system.

Then the plastic 'explosion' happened.

 

[Salsa]

When I moved into my first student flat the previous occupants had left behind roughly 200 empty glass Irn Bru bottles.

Took them all back to the shop across the road over the course of a few weeks and paid for several beers with the profits!

That said I think standardising and increasing the availability of at home recycling should be the focus rather than paying people to return bottles...

/Salsa

 

[Puzzled]

Already recycle all my plastic in the provided recycle bins, why would I want to take them all the way back to a shop?

 

[Hades]

Takes a bottle back to the shop and earns 2p. Saves the environment a little. Yay \o/
Spends £3 on petrol, plus pollution, getting there. Un-yay /o\

Win!

 

[Glaucus]

Takes a bottle back to the shop and earns 2p. Saves the environment a little. Yay \o/
Spends £3 on petrol, plus pollution, getting there. Un-yay /o\

Win!

yeah because you would do that wouldn't you, rather than just taking them when you go shopping.

 

[Hades]

oooh someone's so serious

 

[Amp34]

They had that when I lived in Finland. It led to the students collecting loads to fund parties etc . There were machines in shops where you could feed in the cans/bottles, then at the end it'd give you a receipt which acted as a coupon you could use at the end of your shop. Fairly fuss free.

Slightly different system here, there are dedicated bottle depots around where you drop them off. We normally take a few bin bags at a time, once every 6 months or so and get around £40 back. We have the space to store bags though, many people that live in apartments go more regularly.

Unfortunately not everyone recycles which is why adding a monetary incentive makes such a difference.

The best option would be not requiring the bottles in the first place, but people insist on buying things like bottled water, and we all buy drinks occasionally. Glass bottles, while seemingly great cost more to produce, transport and reuse, which is why plastic took over in so many places.

 

[Tefal]

if its collection then its ok.

if it's not its basically punishing those who don't drive busy increasing the cost of the product for a deposit they will never claim.

 

[adolf hamster]

they have this in germany, there's a sort of tax called pfand on eligible containers (glass bottles, cans and plastic bottles), you pay 25 cents extra when you buy it and you get that back when you re-cycle it at one of the supermarket vending machines that gives you a till reciept.

its a great idea, really does motivate you to recycle by just bringing back the containers next time you go shopping and get some money back.

admittedly it does result in "unfortunates" going round searching bins for pfand eligible containers, but it's not really a problem.

 

[Kaeo]

Any tiny form of added inconvenience always goes down well in the uk. /sarcasm

 

[Efour]

This is a fact of everyday life in Sweden and it's a complete non issue. I don't know why Britain isn't doing it. It's 1kr on a can and 2kr on a 2L bottle.
That's about 10 and 20p. Enough to actually be bothered.
Plenty of people scour bins and the streets to try and collect them so its pretty damn efficient. Sure the transition will be weird but in a year it will be normal.

 

[Sasahara]

Being the UK someone will scam this and make their own fake bottles to claim back more money.

Also would the extra energy consumption be worth the extra plastic collection? Just because it ticks some boxes doesn't mean the results will be better for the environment. 1,000's of machines being on, extra collections. Cash handling(unless they will be card only) all has an impact.