5 ms·

The US was gearing up nicely to require deposit and reuse schemes in the 50s or 60s. Vermont was about to require drinks be in reusable bottles. Pepsi, Coke, B

The US was gearing up nicely to require deposit and reuse schemes in the 50s or 60s. Vermont was about to require drinks be in reusable bottles. Pepsi, Coke, Budweiser, Philip Morris and others got together, conceived the idea of, funded and launched "Keep America Beautiful". Vermont was lobbied and the deposit scheme died, consumers were blamed for the whole problem via campaigns on littering, and industry could do whatever the hell they liked. Greenwashing was born.

hexis 7y ago
Bottle and can deposit has been going on in Massachusetts since at least the 80's (when I was growing up there) - https://www.mass.gov/deposit-bottle-can-recycling https://www.mass.gov/deposit-bottle-can-recycling
- siberianbear 7y ago
  I'm putting words in NeedsMoreTea's mouth here, but I think he was referring not to deposit schemes, but deposit and reuse schemes. In the 70s and 80s, soft drinks (at least in California where I lived) were packaged in really heavy, thick glass bottles. You paid a deposit on purchase, and a refund on turning it back in, and then the bottles were cleaned and reused. These schemes have seemingly all disappeared. Many or most states still have deposit programs, but the intent is to recycle the glass, not to reuse the original bottle.
  - rurp 7y ago
    I like to explore ghost towns and old mines, and one of the things that always strikes me about the leftover trash is how thick and sturdy bottles were 100+ years ago. It's a nice visual reminder of just how disposable most products are in the modern west.
  - tempestn 7y ago
    Glass recycling is pretty efficient and effective though—it could well make more sense (from a combined financial and environmental perspective) to recycle glass than to sterilize and re-use existing bottles.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Exactly so. As I understand it, the Vermont plan was drinks in containers that weren't being refilled were going to be banned. So wash and reuse or you ain't selling that beer. :) Reused glass milk and pop bottles here in the UK didn't seem different in weight or thickness to non-returnable bottles of the same era. They've all got thinner over the years. The oldest milk bottles I can remember, from the 70s, were indeed quite chunky but they'd mostly gone by the 80s. No idea how long they'd been around though. The last fizzy pop refilling scheme I know of died about 5 years ago, leaving just a few dairies using it for milk.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  Reuse is typically only used for big water jugs and glass milk bottles. Soda bottle deposits are effective and don’t get shipped off to poor countries.
flyinghamster 7y ago
On the other hand, up until about the late 1970s or early 80s, Coke and Pepsi in the US were typically sold in eight-packs of 16 fl. oz. returnable bottles. These were returned to the store, which refunded the deposit on the bottles, and the delivery trucks would take the empties back to the bottling plant to be cleaned and reused. The bottoms of old-school Coke bottles were stamped with their original bottling plant, as well, although bottles often turned up far from their original plants. No need for laws, but then Big Soft Drink got greedy and pushed for the disposable mess we're now stuck with, because, hey, no more money spent on washing bottles. I think it's about time more state legislatures enact bottle deposits. I've noticed that highways in Michigan ($0.10 bottle deposit) are a hell of a lot cleaner than in Illinois (no bottle deposit).

hexis 7y ago

Bottle and can deposit has been going on in Massachusetts since at least the 80's (when I was growing up there) - https://www.mass.gov/deposit-bottle-can-recycling https://www.mass.gov/deposit-bottle-can-recycling

siberianbear 7y ago
I'm putting words in NeedsMoreTea's mouth here, but I think he was referring not to deposit schemes, but deposit and reuse schemes. In the 70s and 80s, soft drinks (at least in California where I lived) were packaged in really heavy, thick glass bottles. You paid a deposit on purchase, and a refund on turning it back in, and then the bottles were cleaned and reused. These schemes have seemingly all disappeared. Many or most states still have deposit programs, but the intent is to recycle the glass, not to reuse the original bottle.
- rurp 7y ago
  I like to explore ghost towns and old mines, and one of the things that always strikes me about the leftover trash is how thick and sturdy bottles were 100+ years ago. It's a nice visual reminder of just how disposable most products are in the modern west.
- tempestn 7y ago
  Glass recycling is pretty efficient and effective though—it could well make more sense (from a combined financial and environmental perspective) to recycle glass than to sterilize and re-use existing bottles.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Exactly so. As I understand it, the Vermont plan was drinks in containers that weren't being refilled were going to be banned. So wash and reuse or you ain't selling that beer. :) Reused glass milk and pop bottles here in the UK didn't seem different in weight or thickness to non-returnable bottles of the same era. They've all got thinner over the years. The oldest milk bottles I can remember, from the 70s, were indeed quite chunky but they'd mostly gone by the 80s. No idea how long they'd been around though. The last fizzy pop refilling scheme I know of died about 5 years ago, leaving just a few dairies using it for milk.
Spooky23 7y ago
Reuse is typically only used for big water jugs and glass milk bottles. Soda bottle deposits are effective and don’t get shipped off to poor countries.

flyinghamster 7y ago

On the other hand, up until about the late 1970s or early 80s, Coke and Pepsi in the US were typically sold in eight-packs of 16 fl. oz. returnable bottles. These were returned to the store, which refunded the deposit on the bottles, and the delivery trucks would take the empties back to the bottling plant to be cleaned and reused. The bottoms of old-school Coke bottles were stamped with their original bottling plant, as well, although bottles often turned up far from their original plants. No need for laws, but then Big Soft Drink got greedy and pushed for the disposable mess we're now stuck with, because, hey, no more money spent on washing bottles. I think it's about time more state legislatures enact bottle deposits. I've noticed that highways in Michigan ($0.10 bottle deposit) are a hell of a lot cleaner than in Illinois (no bottle deposit).