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The article mentions the Bottle Bill system: this is a system where you pay a small deposit on every bottle you buy which is then refunded when you return the b

The article mentions the Bottle Bill system: this is a system where you pay a small deposit on every bottle you buy which is then refunded when you return the bottle to the supermarket. This results in the bottles being recycled. We have this system here in The Netherlands and I must say it's fantastic: we get proper thick Coke bottles and my bin doesn't get filled up so quickly. Sadly this system isn't used for all bottles - 500ml bottles aren't covered - and it's only drinks (soft drinks + beer). It's also far from Europe-wide - the UK for example doesn't have this system. Recently the soft-drink manufacturers - presumably Coke/Pepsi - have been lobbying hard to kill this system.. Nice to see how they care about the environment..

pif 11y ago
When I was a child, there was the same system in place in Italy for Coca-Cola glass bottles, and maybe for other sodas as well. It then disappeared, unfortunately.
- dalke 11y ago
  In the US it wasn't the same system. The soda companies ran the bottle recycling system because it was cheaper to wash and reuse the bottle than to make new ones. They switched to plastic because it was cheaper to make new plastic bottles than reuse old glass ones. The government systems described here went into place as a way to reduce the resulting trash.
titzer 11y ago
The German system is also really great. It's a 15 cent Pfand for a plastic water bottle. Everyone recycles them. Failing that, the bottles are so thick that I just keep refilling mine. I've had the same 8 for more than a year.
douche 11y ago
A number of the states in the US have a bottle deposit, which sounds like the same idea. Problem is, it is only 5 cents, where it has been for like forty years, so it is only worth collecting and trading in the bottles if your time is effectively value-less. And it's not universal, so we still get the crap thin plastic bottles, they just cost a nickel more in some places than others. There was a Seinfeld episode involving Kramer collecting a busload of bottles in NY (with $.05 deposit) and driving them to Michigan, where there is a $.10 redemption value.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1blsZxXDCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1blsZxXDCU

pif 11y ago

When I was a child, there was the same system in place in Italy for Coca-Cola glass bottles, and maybe for other sodas as well. It then disappeared, unfortunately.

dalke 11y ago
In the US it wasn't the same system. The soda companies ran the bottle recycling system because it was cheaper to wash and reuse the bottle than to make new ones. They switched to plastic because it was cheaper to make new plastic bottles than reuse old glass ones. The government systems described here went into place as a way to reduce the resulting trash.

titzer 11y ago

The German system is also really great. It's a 15 cent Pfand for a plastic water bottle. Everyone recycles them. Failing that, the bottles are so thick that I just keep refilling mine. I've had the same 8 for more than a year.

douche 11y ago

A number of the states in the US have a bottle deposit, which sounds like the same idea. Problem is, it is only 5 cents, where it has been for like forty years, so it is only worth collecting and trading in the bottles if your time is effectively value-less. And it's not universal, so we still get the crap thin plastic bottles, they just cost a nickel more in some places than others. There was a Seinfeld episode involving Kramer collecting a busload of bottles in NY (with $.05 deposit) and driving them to Michigan, where there is a $.10 redemption value.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1blsZxXDCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1blsZxXDCU