howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#1
Finally a sensible move to cut the amount of rubbish that pollutes everywhere.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43563164Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#2
Unless the rest of the world stops chucking their plastic away wherever it happens to land this move will have little affect on the plastic rubbish mountain.
I wonder if this means the end of our council collecting our recycling or will they still collect the huge amount of plastic that supermarkets inflict on us.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Paul Watkins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 9 Nov 2011
- Posts: 2,226
#3
Interesting conundrum here. Jan rightly points out implications for recycling.
DDC is currently looking at next waste contract with other Districts & KCC. Recycled plastics bring in income which reduces costs & your council tax. Be interested to see impact of this scheme & alterations in recycling percentages. Bet Gove has not thought this one out! Someone else’s Department.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#4
From what I have read on the subject most of the developed world are bringing in similar schemes and it is in the wealthier countries that use the most glass and plastic. Thinking locally our river will look better if the scheme takes off leaving a lot less work for the volunteers who clean it on a monthly basis during the season.
Button
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,109
#5
I remember scouring the streets as a child (on my tricycle with boot) looking for beer bottles (2d) and Corona bottles (3d) to return. As well as the river, I shall make a note to raid recycling bins in future - unless a gang already has the monopoly.
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(Not my real name.)
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#6
I would have preferred Gove to have hit the supermarkets first simply because of all the unnecessary plastic wrapping they use.
Shrink wrapped four packs being an example, are we really incapable of picking up four separate plastic bottles or four tins.
Will supermarkets and shops be happy having to arrange repayment and storage of all our returns. I suspect some customers will need a taxi to the shop as well as home.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#7
Courtesy of the Times.
Thousands of “reverse vending” machines are set to be installed in supermarkets to receive cans and bottles and refund deposits. Thérèse Coffey, the environment minister, recently visited Norway, where consumers pay a deposit of about 10p to 25p, depending on the size of the bottle. They can return the empty container by posting it into a machine that reads the barcode and issues a coupon for the deposit. If the container still contains liquid the machine takes the bottle but does not issue the deposit. Instead it is paid to the retailer, who has to remove the liquid before the bottle can be recycled.
The deposit scheme has resulted in 96 per cent of plastic drinks bottles being recycled in Norway, compared with 74 per cent in Britain. A working group appointed by the government has concluded that a deposit scheme would significantly increase recycling levels in the UK. The group, which includes Tesco and Coca-Cola European Partners, reported to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) last month that such a scheme would also reduce litter and improve the quality of material sent for recycling. The group received evidence showing that the cost of the scheme could be funded by sales of material collected for recycling, unclaimed deposits and a charge of about 0.7p per bottle paid by manufacturers.
Defra is studying deposit schemes in other countries and will seek more evidence in a public consultation this year before drawing up detailed plans for a scheme in England.
Officials are considering what obligations should be imposed on different types of retailers to collect drinks containers and return deposits. In Germany metal cans and glass and plastic bottles are subject to a 22p deposit redeemable at 135,000 locations, mainly via reverse vending machines. Retailers are obliged to return only the same amount of bottles as they sell and small shops are required to take back only the brands they sell. Defra is also considering who should retain unclaimed deposits for drinks containers that are not returned. In Denmark unredeemed deposits help to fund the scheme and a proportion of the money is donated to charity. In Ontario, Canada, unredeemed deposits are retained by drinks companies.
The British Retail Consortium, which represents large supermarkets and has campaigned against the introduction of a deposit scheme, switched its focus last night to ensuring that it is introduced smoothly and at minimum cost. Andrew Opie, the consortium’s director of food policy, wrote in The Times in October that a deposit scheme was “a sugar-rush solution that’s all fizz and no pop”. Last night he said: “We’re pleased the government has said any scheme will be based on evidence and any costs for consumers and retailers will be proportionate. “It is important they co-ordinate work with the Scottish government, who are further ahead with their planning. “The government needs to be creative in its thinking, for example using municipal sites, not just shops in town centres, to tackle littering. We also hope we can move on from single issues such as bottles to a more co-ordinated, comprehensive approach to tackling plastic packaging.”
Neil Moors- Registered: 3 Feb 2016
- Posts: 1,300
#8
Works brilliantly in Germany. As a regular supporter of Borussia Dortmund, you can barely finish your drink at a game before somebody is waiting to take your bottle from you to claim the recycling fee. Literally, armies of people are there with huge bags clearing up after you and I am sure that the monies they collect for putting their time in is most welcome. The term "win win" is thrown about too often, but in this case, it really is.
Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,095
#9
Jan Higgins wrote:I would have preferred Gove to have hit the supermarkets first simply because of all the unnecessary plastic wrapping they use.
There's another way to bring the supermarkets to account:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-43559636'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
Pablo- Registered: 21 Mar 2018
- Posts: 614
#10
Something to provide a worthwhile occupation for those down on their luck?
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#11
do you meen to say that they [ the drunks etc] recycle there empty beer cans so they can buy them selfs some drugs Pablo,.