Money back on bottles?

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Money back on bottles?
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judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 9:47 am Post subject: Re: Money back on bottles?

earthyvirgo wrote:

I don't know if it still happens in other European countries but last time I was in Switzerland, there was a conveyor belt at the back of a supermarket, you put your bottles on it and the money back was dispensed at the end of the line. Brilliant idea.

The wine bottles with the deposit on them had a row of stars on the neck. ISTR that non-approved bottles without the stars would come back out again if you tried to feed them in!

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 9:55 am Post subject:

A main part of the suggestion is to combat littering by plastic bottles. While people will make more of an effort to recycle glass one serving drinks bottles bought in the newsagent etc just get chucked.

Glass bottles were reused when distributed locally and fuel was relatively cheaper. And that only related to mainly to beer and soft drink in large bottles. Jamjars etc weren't covered. Mass reusing of drink bottles and jars would rely on a standard designs. I'd be interested to know if the other countries who pay deposits resused the glass or recycled after paying the deposit. So much or our glass recycling is voluntary.

My stash of Newcastle Brown bottles used to be my reserve in the last week of term and was turned to cash to pay for food.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 10:32 am Post subject:

Katieowl wrote:

Bodger wrote:

Its certainly done in the states too. My mate over there is drinking himself rich

If it works in other countries, why shouldn't it work here. There must be measures that the government can bring in to get it going here. A tax or a tarrif on bottles incentive for the companies selling their produce in bottles? and why not jars while we are at it?

I believe they can recycle ali cans for cash too...? I seem to remember reading about some of the more hard core frugalites on one of the forums collecting cans out of the rubbish bins, and cleaning up after litterers in the street.

Kate

I recycle aluminium and steel cans for cash, rather than giving them to the local authority to do the same, although they do get the glass, paper and plastic. However, when I see bin in towns overflowing with cans I have so far managed to resist the urge to collect them, and just curse the overly rich people who chuck them.

Katieowl

Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Posts: 4317
Location: West Wales

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 11:11 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

You have nothing to loose but your reputation LOL!

Don't you have to collect an awful lot though to cash them in? Like a skip load?

OH has what he calls the 'plumbers benevolent fund' which is all the bits of metal off various building projects - copper pipes and fittings in the main - we tend to cash that in at Xmas and it can be quite lucrative.

Kate

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 11:17 am Post subject:

Don't worry about how to implement it - just copy what we do here. Yes soda and beer bottles & cans are returnable for 5 cents here. I think it's about time we step it up to 25 cents. (Some states have increased the deposit). It's worth noting, that a lot (most?) states don't have a bottle deposit law at all.

You can't actually "drink yourself rich" because you're paying the 5 cent deposit the same time you buy the beverage. You're just reclaiming your own money. And if you pick up other peoples' bottles/cans, you are reclaiming their lazy money.

I'd like to see the rate go up to 25 cents/bottle and also see the local breweries returning to re-usable glass bottles, not just recyclable. A few local dairies have returned to re-usable sterilized glass bottles ($1.50 deposit!)

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 11:20 am Post subject:

Katieowl wrote:

Rob R wrote:

You have nothing to loose but your reputation LOL!

Don't you have to collect an awful lot though to cash them in? Like a skip load?

Probably, I've never taken small amounts in so I'm not exactly sure but every little helps

I think maybe a dustbin full (crushed cans, that is) is the min.

Katieowl

Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Posts: 4317
Location: West Wales

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 11:25 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

Probably, I've never taken small amounts in so I'm not exactly sure but every little helps

I think maybe a dustbin full (crushed cans, that is) is the min.

Actually that's not too bad at all methinks? I'll find out if anywhere nearby will take that quantity. I was thinking we didn't really do cans...but I'd forgotten our son's and our daughter's BF Stella and Strongbow consumption

Kate

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 10 11:30 am Post subject:
When we cashed in the steel ones not so long ago we must have had a few hundred kilo's, both our own and my mum's - I think it'd certainly be worth communities pooling their cans and using the money collectively.

Clara

Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 268
Location: the green green grass of wales

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 7:30 am Post subject:

I have no idea how it works - I guess it is more like incentivising people to recycle rather than actually reuse the bottles (yes that would be a logistical nightmare). But in Denmark you go to the supermarket, post your bottles into the bin and out comes your money. Magic (or barcodes?).

According to National Geographic Denmark recycles more glass than it uses (i.e. they sort out other countries too), so we should probably be taking a lead from them.

Cobnut

Joined: 29 Aug 2008
Posts: 475
Location: North Herefordshire

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 7:43 am Post subject:
I can just about remember Corona (does the company even still exist?) drinks coming in glass bottles that we would return for a few pence. I wonder how high the deposit would need to be before some people could be bothered to do it though. Still, I think it�s a great idea and would like to see its return, and I can imagine the streets would become cleaner too.

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35057
Location: Devon

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 7:59 am Post subject:

Clara wrote:

My Dad used to work in the glass bottle industry, and he said that the UK recycled more green glass than it uses (as wine is bottled where it made) but we don't recycle as much clear glass.

I think it's a good idea. Presumably the money to pay for running it would come from the deposits paid but not claimed, and the saving from the bottles not going to landfill would have to factored in.

Last edited by jamanda on Sat Sep 18, 10 8:46 am; edited 1 time in total

earthyvirgo

Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 7972
Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 8:16 am Post subject:

Cobnut wrote:

I can just about remember Corona (does the company even still exist?) drinks coming in glass bottles that we would return for a few pence. I wonder how high the deposit would need to be before some people could be bothered to do it though. Still, I think it�s a great idea and would like to see its return, and I can imagine the streets would become cleaner too.

CPRE were suggesting 15p I think!

...which sounds great to me, I'd do it, in fact, I do it anyway but just a few pence might be a good incentive to engender good habits in younger children I'd have thought.

However, having seen how much food and drink people leave in pubs without seemingly even thinking or caring about how much it's cost them (or the planet) , I'm not sure how much a certain type/age group would use the system.

EV

bikebodger

Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 40
Location: Worcestershire

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 8:44 am Post subject:

earthyvirgo wrote:

However, having seen how much food and drink people leave in pubs without seemingly even thinking or caring about how much it's cost them (or the planet) , I'm not sure how much a certain type/age group would use the system.

EV

But there are plenty of others who would collect them up and get the �'s back...

I run outdoor events, and sometime do the litter/recycling contracts for the smaller events. Last weekend me and my site crew cleared up after a few thousand people, and ended up with 2 blue plastic barrels full of crushed ally cans, a tonne bag full of flatted PET 1 & 2 bottles and 2 tonne bags of glass. The glass and plastic went to the local recycling centre, the cans are sat in the yard until I go and weigh them in

We spent several hours pulling open all the campers black bags that clanked or rattled in order to get the recyclate out. These people cannot event be bothered to separate their waste when there is a row of tonne bags in front of them that clearly state "glass" "cans" "Landfill" etc. The only way to make some people do this must be financial I believe, we make it as simple as possible and they still can't be bothered

Personally I'd put the deposit on bottles higher, 25 & 50p, but we'd probably here endless moaning from corporations if implemented.

Clara

Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 268
Location: the green green grass of wales

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 1:59 pm Post subject:
Absolutely, my Danish friend says if you go to festies in Denmark there are quite often families wandering around picking up the empties - park granny in the queue give her what you have, she gets to the front, cashes in and goes to the back again!!

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2571
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 10 4:29 pm Post subject:

Where I live now, New Jersey, we don't have deposit on bottles. When I lived in Connecticut - and that goes back 15 years - there was a deposit charged on beverage containers whether glass, plastic, or metal.

It was the convenience of the return that made this so do-able. The supermarkets had large containers up front in the store - one for metal, one for plastic, one for glass. Slip your return into the correct device, bar code upward to be scanned. If it was an unacceptable item the machine would beep so you could remove the offending bottle. Acceptable bottles would be shredded or smashed, depending.

And when done you pushed a button and the change came tinkling down into a hopper.

Easy, convenient, worthwhile.

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