Deposit return scheme (recycling)

One thing I noticed this weekend more yesterday is for bank holiday weekend they are getting used a lot so with limited bank holiday staff more likely to have issues with machines. Probably better off waiting a few days after BH to use them

This is a good point.

The first step on the three Rs is Reduce and that should be the goal.

In the meantime we need to get a system in place that will do the best we can with what is being produced now.

Will that encourage more production ?

Probably yes but only if we allow it to.

It seems clear to me that most posters on this thread are not ready to reduce their consumption of plastic.

They may or may not be representative of the general public.

People seem to have bought into the idea of the convenience of having drinks readily available at all times.

It appears to me that if any attempt was made to reduce that availability the reaction would make this thread look like a tea party.

If the water was safe to drink coming from my taps my plastic use would reduce drastically.

Another one to add to the long list of things the government can’t get right in this country.

Of course you are right.

Many of our public water supplies are far from satisfactory and have been that way for a long time.

Bottled water is essential if the supply in your area is not up to scratch.

In your case it's not a matter of choice.

The only consolation is that the 5 litre containers are exempt from deposit.

Once a week I bring a bag with me when I'm shopping, spend 2 minutes putting containers in the machine. There's a lot harder things in my life than putting bottles into a machine.

But it's my few quid, I don't want to be paying a glorified tax, I already pay enough.

Ya I've used numerous machines and yet to have a single problem.

Ya might as well get with the program anyway, if there isn't a high enough uptake, they'll just keep increasing the deposit. It ain't going away unfortunately.

It seems clear to me that most posters on this thread are not ready to reduce their consumption of plastic.

This scheme is not about reducing anything.

People will do what is convenient primarily.

The primary factor for high participation rates for any recycling scheme is convenience. Multiple studies on it.

Now of course we have ripped our convenient system out of the system and replaced it with 10s of millions of separate polluting trash deposit journeys.

If you are asked to devise a more inconvenient scheme relative to what we have you would come up with Re-Turn.

It's hamster maze levels of stupidity.

As for people reducing their plastic consumption, why would they? They might have had some chance if cans were not included in the scheme (cash grab), but if they have to go anyway, why bother?

For me, it's just another task on my endless list of tasks to do as a busy full time working Mam. I'm already stressed out and it's a pain in the h*le for me to do this when I was quite happily using my recycle bin for all this stuff.

The chance of a can or bottle been placed in ones recycle bin being recycled is probably virtually zero because of this scheme.

Subsidy and economies of scale are gone. So they will probably end up incinerated or landfilled.

So the reality is it doesn't really matter what bin it goes into anymore, does it? Doesn't really matter that they go in a RVM either because we don't have the facilities to recycle at scale and they will continue to be exported and burnt.

Given the cheer leaders of this scheme are telling us it is cans and bottles that is destroying other recyclable material it's probably more environmental to chuck them in general waste.

Of course that requires critical thought which gets relegated when their is a new green logo to clap to.

Absolutely, as I said you do you.

Actually, Im now consuming more plastic bottles, because a 2 litre bottle with a 25 cent deposit, is a lot less than 6 cans for the same volume, costing me a 90 cent deposit. I preferred cans due to freshness, but I can live with it.

A national strategy for reducing single use plastic would achieve an awful lot more. I have noticed tesco adopting this where they can. Own brand beef mince nolonger comes in a plastic box, but in a shrink wrap bag. It may not be a big reduction but takes up a lot less space in the green bin, and the freezer.

I suspect the reason they didnt do that because its harder to track from a numbers point of view. With the DRS they can congratulate themselves on a successful scheme because of the numbers available - despite not including the context that it is currently far from a successful scheme.

I have a recycle bin and was fastidious in using it. My current position is one of "fuckin' sick of it at this stage".