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I wonder if plastic bottles are charged/taxed anywhere? Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution. And straws, oh yes. I noticed after covid they're in i

I wonder if plastic bottles are charged/taxed anywhere? Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution. And straws, oh yes. I noticed after covid they're in individual packaging!

keybored 1y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation > Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution. Why?
- culebron21 1y ago
  That's my guess. Wherever I go outside of cities, I see plastic bottles, bags and other wrapping of sweets, candies, cigarettes, etc.
  - codingbot3000 1y ago
    I never get why people will drop plastic garbage somewhere in nature or just at the roadside. I always associate it with the Alaska Highway in Snow Crash, don't know why :-D
    - kgwgk 1y ago
      Because you’ve not visited Sicily.
tgsovlerkhgsel 1y ago
Many places have mandatory deposits on them, ranging from ineffective (California - you pay 5 or 10 cents but there is no practical way to redeem it so it's just an extra tax and there's no extra incentive to dispose of it properly) to very effective (Germany, 25 Eurocents, IIRC any shop that sells drinks in PET bottles has to accept returns of PET bottles). The German system has interesting side effects: If you litter, a homeless person will soon pick it up, making this double as an additional social system with a built-in needs test. However, a downside is that if you know you won't be returning it, it's actually cheaper to buy and trash a reusable bottle because the deposit on a reusable beer bottle is 8 cents, vs. 25 cents on a can. The production cost for the bottle is around 35 cents I think. The deposit was introduced as a punitive measure for the industry for failing to keep the percentage of drinks sold in reusable bottles high enough. As soon as the barrier was broken and the threat/incentive gone, glass bottles almost disappeared for anything except beer (and maybe some mineral water). Even with one of the main benefits (easy disposal) removed - since you can't crush the bottles before returning them and have to drag them back to a store - they are much more popular than glass because unless you go shopping with a car (uncommon in cities in Germany), having to carry twice as much weight (and then drag the heavy packaging back) matters.
- jogjayr 1y ago
  > California - you pay 5 or 10 cents but there is no practical way to redeem it I once brought my cans to a recycling center and got paid. This was in the Bay Area. For the cost of driving it is uneconomical unless you bring hundreds of cans. Someone with a bike and trailer could make it work.
  - voodoo_child 1y ago
    Same. They’ve recently brought CRV charges into Ireland and almost every supermarket has a machine you can get your refund, so much more convenient. I’ve only noticed one of these near me in the Bay Area, and it’s almost always out of order or has queues of people waiting. With over $800m in unclaimed CRVs[1], I’d wonder what kind of motivation there is to actually improve the service over “pocketing” the money. [1] https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/06/20/californias-unclaimed-bottle-deposits-820m-recycling-centers-close https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/06/20/californias...
  - hansvm 1y ago
    Yeah, the problem is that they aren't required to take them and pay you. Most recycling centers don't have that system. You have to go a long ways out of your way (for most residents), leading to the problem you described.
    - jogjayr 1y ago
      This page https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/InStoreRedemption https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/InStoreRedemptio... says regular stores take them too. And the recycling center I went to was right smack in the middle of South Bay. Not inconvenient.
    - dragonwriter 1y ago
      > Yeah, the problem is that they aren't required to take them and pay you Yes, they are. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/ https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/

I wonder if plastic bottles are charged/taxed anywhere? Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution. And straws, oh yes. I noticed after covid they're in individual packaging!

keybored 1y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation > Because I bet they're #2 if not #1 in pollution. Why?

culebron21 1y ago
That's my guess. Wherever I go outside of cities, I see plastic bottles, bags and other wrapping of sweets, candies, cigarettes, etc.
- codingbot3000 1y ago
  I never get why people will drop plastic garbage somewhere in nature or just at the roadside. I always associate it with the Alaska Highway in Snow Crash, don't know why :-D
  - kgwgk 1y ago
    Because you’ve not visited Sicily.

tgsovlerkhgsel 1y ago

Many places have mandatory deposits on them, ranging from ineffective (California - you pay 5 or 10 cents but there is no practical way to redeem it so it's just an extra tax and there's no extra incentive to dispose of it properly) to very effective (Germany, 25 Eurocents, IIRC any shop that sells drinks in PET bottles has to accept returns of PET bottles). The German system has interesting side effects: If you litter, a homeless person will soon pick it up, making this double as an additional social system with a built-in needs test. However, a downside is that if you know you won't be returning it, it's actually cheaper to buy and trash a reusable bottle because the deposit on a reusable beer bottle is 8 cents, vs. 25 cents on a can. The production cost for the bottle is around 35 cents I think. The deposit was introduced as a punitive measure for the industry for failing to keep the percentage of drinks sold in reusable bottles high enough. As soon as the barrier was broken and the threat/incentive gone, glass bottles almost disappeared for anything except beer (and maybe some mineral water). Even with one of the main benefits (easy disposal) removed - since you can't crush the bottles before returning them and have to drag them back to a store - they are much more popular than glass because unless you go shopping with a car (uncommon in cities in Germany), having to carry twice as much weight (and then drag the heavy packaging back) matters.

jogjayr 1y ago
> California - you pay 5 or 10 cents but there is no practical way to redeem it I once brought my cans to a recycling center and got paid. This was in the Bay Area. For the cost of driving it is uneconomical unless you bring hundreds of cans. Someone with a bike and trailer could make it work.
- voodoo_child 1y ago
  Same. They’ve recently brought CRV charges into Ireland and almost every supermarket has a machine you can get your refund, so much more convenient. I’ve only noticed one of these near me in the Bay Area, and it’s almost always out of order or has queues of people waiting. With over $800m in unclaimed CRVs[1], I’d wonder what kind of motivation there is to actually improve the service over “pocketing” the money. [1] https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/06/20/californias-unclaimed-bottle-deposits-820m-recycling-centers-close https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/06/20/californias...
- hansvm 1y ago
  Yeah, the problem is that they aren't required to take them and pay you. Most recycling centers don't have that system. You have to go a long ways out of your way (for most residents), leading to the problem you described.
  - jogjayr 1y ago
    This page https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/InStoreRedemption https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/InStoreRedemptio... says regular stores take them too. And the recycling center I went to was right smack in the middle of South Bay. Not inconvenient.
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > Yeah, the problem is that they aren't required to take them and pay you Yes, they are. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/ https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/