Uplifting News @lemmy.world fne8w2ah @lemmy.world 3 wk. ago

Consumers embrace Ireland’s first bottle deposit return scheme | Recycling | The Guardian

www.theguardian.com Consumers embrace Ireland’s first bottle deposit return scheme

Since February, 630m empty cans and bottles have been deposited at reverse vending machines

31 comments

what took them so long tho
We literally had actual bottle recycling schemes back in the old days when we had people delivering milk and other dairy products.

But that didn't fit into big corporations "profiteering-at-all-costs" plans, so they started selling the stuff in plastic.
- ...yyyeees, but I was also a lot cheaper and used a lot less fuel because the plastic was far lighter to carry around than glass.
  
  How that balances out, no idea, sorry... I'm hoping it was better but may have been due to plastic subsidies or something equally evil
  
  was also a lot cheaper
  
  That's what they told me when I was a kid - and now I live in a country where 20% of the population can't even afford milk. So I have to ask - cheaper for whom?
  
  been due to plastic subsidies or something equally evil
  
  Don't know, but it sure did allow the big supermarket chains to monopolize the dairy supply business.
Wait what… Are you saying that Ireland didn’t have a bottle returning system before? What happened to all the bottles and cans before that? Did you just throw all of that in the trash?
- No we recycled them and recycle rates were really high. They just went in the green wheelie bin and were picked up every week or two.
  
  I would be fine with the deposit scheme but the plastic bottles and aluminium cans all need to be in perfect condition / no squashing them down so they quickly start taking up a lot of space in our (busy) house then need a trip to the store followed by putting them in a scanning machine one by one where before we could just squish them and pop them in the green bin.
  
  I'm not doing any more recycling but now I have a lot more effort unfortunately.
  
  Also no glass in the scheme.
  
  I'm honestly not a fan as someone who was recycling everything already.
  
  Honestly, it's just made me buy less pointless soda and fuzzy water, just because it's a pain to deal with.
  
  Good outcome I think
  
  Ah, well at least there's now an incentive for someone to pick up any cans and plastic bottles left lying around outside. Some people in my town eke out a living off other people's carelessness.
- Whenever I'm in a country without a cash deposit system on bottles and cans, I see so many of them just being thrown on the ground everywhere. It's worst outside of city centers where there is no regular clean up.
  
  Yeah, with cash deposit the homeless cleans it up.
Can we abolish the word "consumers" please?

"Parts of the society" fits it better
- 'I think 'the term Consumers' generally makes it more clear which aspect of the society we're discussing. The organizations running bottle returns aren't typically excited about the idea.
  
  I'm actually more offended by their use of "scheme" which can carry a negative connotation in some places, as well as "reverse vending machine" which... just... no thank you
  
  Puke in, money out
  
  In the UK, "scheme" doesn't seem to have that "plotting a heist" connotation it does in, say, the US. People often have a "pension scheme" for instance.
- But then how can we refer to ourselves as a third-person locust that only has a purpose, job, and duty to spend our "infinite" wealth in a never-ending capitalist scheme of profit to assist our betters in buying a fifth yacht?
idgi… So it’s just a way that makes it easier for bottles to be recycled?

Imma be honest, I can barely stay on top of emptying my bin at home, the chances of me having the time and energy to do this are non existent.
- Sure, throw them away. But you also won't get back your
  
  €0.15 (12p) per can and €0.25 per plastic bottle
  
  you pay on top for every beverage (canned or in plastic).
  
  Here we are doing it for so long, I don't remember when we introduced this system and I can say:
  
  Trash on the streets reduced by a whole lot
  
  It just became a part of our shopping routine.
  
  I'm pretty sure, you will find the necessary energy and time.
  
  Brother, even with the best intentions, I will not find the energy and time. It just won’t happen.
  
  More ADHD tax ☹️
- Do you sometimes or occasionally go to a store? If yes then great. Simple deposit the empty bottle into the bag you take to the store and you're dandy!
  
  That is a simple trick only millions of people are performing every day
  
  Let my ADHD ass introduce you to my bucket of used batteries, and my giant bag of "soft plastics", both of which require a trip to the store (5 minute walk away) to recycle.
  
  The problem is the previous alternative was popping them in the green bin which our household was already doing. We are doing no more recycling but it's now a lot of space consumption (squashed bottles or cans are rejected) and more hassle.
  
  The ADHD leaving my body when someone says to “simply do it”
  
  Thank you, your patronising suggestion is very helpful and has addressed all my problems. I don’t know why I didn’t think about just doing stuff simply before 🙄

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