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Several US states have this program for glass and cans and yet both glass and cans are still found on the side of the road.
by galleywest200 2y ago
Several US states have this program for glass and cans and yet both glass and cans are still found on the side of the road.
- schiffern 2y ago"Are still found" implies we can only accept perfection. Back in the real world, bottle bills double rates of recycling (33% to 70%). Keep America Beautiful, a packaging industry greenwashing group, developed the industry's modern response to policy. They're against bottle bills too, despite the fact that they're an extremely cost-effective anti-litter policy. Back when the 5¢ deposit was introduced it was equivalent to more than 25¢ today, so today's policy is limited by a failure to update with the times. In Michigan (which has a still-pretty-measly 10¢ deposit) they see recycling rates of 97%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_deposit_legislation_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_deposit_legislation_...
- binary132 2y agonot debating in either direction, but wouldn’t it be arguable that bottle bills are merely associated with increased recycling, since probably they are voted in by constituencies who are already more likely to recycle?
- schiffern 2y agoThe hypothesis is easy to test by looking at historical recycling rates. If they track public opinion then it's confirmed, but if there's a sharp increase when bottle bills pass then it's mostly the (predictable) price signaling effect. I find the doubt that prices work a bit surprising, since generally HN audiences tend to be above average in market literacy otherwise. https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/benefits-of-bottle-bills/litter-studies-in-bottle-bill-states https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/benefits-of-bottle-bill...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]