3 ms·

>How do you capture the cost of the plastic litter? WRT the parent comment, glass bottles can too be litter. I don't think they're relevant here.

• Spooky23 8y ago
  Reusable glass bottles by their nature have a lower litter rate because there is a deposit associated with them. Even the modest $0.05 deposit in many states results in 80% recycling rate for soft drink containers, versus about 35-40% for other plastic containers. At the co-op that I used to work at, reusable glass milk bottles had a $1 deposit and 95% return rate. When I volunteered on an "adopt a highway" program through an employer when I was in college, we'd clean up a couple of thousand yards of urban highway shoulder and collect around a thousand gallons of trash. Plastic bags, plastic bottles and coffee cups were about half of the objects picked up. The rest ranged from the gross to the unusual (an iron bath tub).
  • striking 8y ago
    In some states, many plastic bottles also have a deposit. I have never heard of a $1 deposit, but I assume it's very effective with certain audiences.
    • KozmoNau7 8y ago
      We have a ~25c deposit here, and it really does help reduce the amount of waste. There are also "deposit shelves" on most public garbage cans, so you can leave the bottle for someone else to deposit, if you can't or won't. That way they don't have to rummage through the garbage for it. Local music festivals have also started introducing a ~$1 deposit on plastic cups. It really helps clean up in front of the stages.