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I always feel weird reading all the drama regarding waste management in US. Of all countries I would have thought they would understand market economics the mos

by seer 7y ago

I always feel weird reading all the drama regarding waste management in US. Of all countries I would have thought they would understand market economics the most. If cleaning up waste is an externality, can’t you add in the price of that cleaning into the thing itself, thus doing that would be an economic activity in and off itself. For example a plastic cup costs 1c to produce, but 1 dollar to clean up. Well can’t you force the price to be 1.01 and be done with it. then if you clean up after yourself you can “get that deposit back” or if you don’t care for it - someone will, because it would earn them a dollar? I think Germany has a system like that and I’ve heard that it works for them - both socially and in that it keeps things clean. Though I’ve not been there personally to verify.

jillesvangurp 7y ago
Yes, Germany has deposits on bottles and cans. E.g. small plastic coke bottles will have something like a 15c deposit. People tend to leave them around for homeless people to collect when they are on the go. It's a nice thing to do. All super markets have collection points where you get your deposit back as a receipt that you can cash in when paying for your groceries. The system works pretty well and it's pretty common for homeless people to show up there with bags full of bottles that they've collected. They have another system at big beer festivals and beer gardens where people prefer to drink their beverages in glasses. Beer in plastic cups is just not acceptable here. These glasses have a deposit as well and you swap them for a clean and full one when you get a new drink and when you are done you get your deposit back when you return the glass. This could work for coffee cups too. Just charge a dollar or so for a proper mug and simply put them in the dishwasher when people return them and give them a clean one. Only charge the deposit when they don't return one. Drinking from a proper mug is a superior drinking experience in any case.

by seer 7y ago

jillesvangurp 7y ago

Yes, Germany has deposits on bottles and cans. E.g. small plastic coke bottles will have something like a 15c deposit. People tend to leave them around for homeless people to collect when they are on the go. It's a nice thing to do. All super markets have collection points where you get your deposit back as a receipt that you can cash in when paying for your groceries. The system works pretty well and it's pretty common for homeless people to show up there with bags full of bottles that they've collected. They have another system at big beer festivals and beer gardens where people prefer to drink their beverages in glasses. Beer in plastic cups is just not acceptable here. These glasses have a deposit as well and you swap them for a clean and full one when you get a new drink and when you are done you get your deposit back when you return the glass. This could work for coffee cups too. Just charge a dollar or so for a proper mug and simply put them in the dishwasher when people return them and give them a clean one. Only charge the deposit when they don't return one. Drinking from a proper mug is a superior drinking experience in any case.