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My closing statement read: "There is only one real effective and incentive method to encourage environmentally sound collecting of beverage one-way containers and it is deposit in combination with High-Tech R&D resulted Reverse Vending Machines!

UK: The deposit scheme debate?

The debate over whether the UK should follow in the footsteps of countries including Australia, Sweden, Denmark and Germany [for more correct follow, pleas] by implementing a deposit scheme on plastic bottles was raised recently by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

As part of its ‘Stop the Drop’ campaign, the CPRE urged the government to introduce a 10p deposit on plastic bottles and drink cans. Under the scheme, an extra 10p would be added to the cost of a drink, which would be returned to the consumer when the bottle/can was returned to a collection point.

The initiative was suggested as a tactic to reduce the amount of empty packaging which ends up as litter.

The government were quick to state that a deposit scheme is not going to be introduced in response to the campaign. Environment minister Joan Ruddock said:

"Deposit and return schemes died out in this country because they did not make financial sense. Until their environmental benefits are clear cut, we are not currently persuaded that implementing them would be justified."

Recoup Senior Project Manager Stuart Foster believes that a deposit scheme is not necessarily the best option for solving the problem of littering.

He commented: “Although deposit schemes have been successful in some countries, this is not always the case. Incentivising recycling can make a difference. However it’s certainly not the primary way forward in terms of delivering both behavioural change and increasing collecting rates.

“Instead, Recoup would encourage the development and promotion of more ‘on the go’ recycling schemes, such as the Glaxo Smith Kline funded demonstration project assessing the feasibility of reverse vending machines that Recoup are currently working on, and the Recycling Zone project that we have helped launch with Coca Cola Enterprises and WRAP.

Encouraging and enabling people to recycle their drink bottles and cans when they are out and about, as near to the point of purchase as possible, is  proven to increase recycling rates.”

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