[gabe]

Having a deposit/return system for containers that are recycled seems very inefficient/wasteful.

I would rather see a deposit/return system on all cans and plastic bottles sold in stores. It may cut down on all the litter. As long as it's like a 25 cent deposit or more. People will think twice about chucking cans/bottles out the car window or tossing Monster Energy cans into my peony bushes at the bus stop.

My cousin in NY state, keeps all bottles and cans in the garage. They take the bags to the grocery store for store credit. Cuts down on the grocery bill. The kids had their own bags. When they got full they would take it to the store an put the money towards toys or candy or whatever kids buy.

 

[afransen]

I would rather see a deposit/return system on all cans and plastic bottles sold in stores. It may cut down on all the litter. As long as it's like a 25 cent deposit or more. People will think twice about chucking cans/bottles out the car window or tossing Monster Energy cans into my peony bushes at the bus stop.

My cousin in NY state, keeps all bottles and cans in the garage. They take the bags to the grocery store for store credit. Cuts down on the grocery bill. The kids had their own bags. When they got full they would take it to the store an put the money towards toys or candy or whatever kids buy.

If you want to cut down on litter, ban non-reusable containers and implement a deposit/return/reuse scheme. Having a deposit return scheme where the returns are immediately waste is non-sensical. And let's not kid ourselves, most plastic is just garbage.

It doesn't cut down on the grocery bill. Inherent in deposit/return is the cost of the deposit. Add in the cost of administering the system and all the added touches/infrastructure to deliver those items to the waste stream and we are just lighting money on fire, not to mention increasing GHG emissions and pollution.

 

[gabe]

Works fine in Quebec and BC. And better for our environment. Keep garbage off our streets. Everyday i see metal cans and plastic bottles. Especially on trails. People will pick it up and get money for it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1800541547022446941

 

[afransen]

Works fine in Quebec and BC. And better for our environment. Keep garbage off our streets. Everyday i see metal cans and plastic bottles. Especially on trails. People will pick it up and get money for it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1800541547022446941

Most of the litter I see is fast food cups, food wrappers, etc. I rarely see plastic bottles and cans. Perhaps on trails lacking in waste receptacles lazy people are more likely to litter. You could employ people to collect litter (or place garbage/recycling receptacles and empty them) and skip the infrastructure to collect waste, issue refunds, "recycle" it and put it in a landfill (possibly a river or burn pile on the other side of the planet).

ETA: I would favour a tax on single use beverage containers, scaled to how readily recyclable the container is. Mixed plastic bottles: 10 or 20 cents per bottle to start. We need to focus on reduce, before reuse, before recycle.

 

[lenaitch]

One problem with things like taxing, deposits, etc. is recycling standards across the province are inconsistent.