LIKE many young teenagers the lure of money to supplement my meagre pocket money and cash received from a paper round, was strong.
Across the road from our house in a suburb of Manchester, was the Locarno dance hall and an adjacent alleyway was the route taken by my brother and I when taking our Labrador for its morning walk, before setting off to school.
The morning after a dance night saw a mountain of ‘empties’ stored in the alleyway, next to one of the emergency exits.
Thinking that no one would miss a few beer bottles, we stashed a couple under our coats and then claimed back the few pennies of deposit at the local off licence (bottle store).
Then we got a little more adventurous – soda in those days was dispensed in large rather ornate glass soda syphons which commanded a much higher deposit return – two shillings and six pence, from memory. My excursion into crime didn’t last long and was rewarded by an enormous, wardrobe sized police constable who gave me a serious talking to, and a clip around the ear!
Fast forward to 2022 when the streets and beaches are littered with, yes, all manner of plastic waste, which the lazy discarder sees no value.
It seems a simple matter to reintroduce the system of deposits on all types of plastic packaging, thus giving the ‘waste’ a value which can be redeemed on return or provided as a discount on a new product when evidence is provided of a return.
The creative (and disciplined) Scandinavians have even introduced a vending machine type cabinet, located in the corner shop or supermarket which accepts plastic bottles through a neat opening and upon a quick analysis by the machine’s ‘brain’, coughs out a deposit. The machine is able to grind the plastic to facilitate maximum storage and when full, signals a recycling contractor to collect the raw material and replenish the deposit monies. Apparently this system has been particularly successful in remote areas.
So why not return to the well-tried system of deposits on containers that are no further use to the purchaser?
Seems simple enough – it’s what we used to have here on beer bottles but the bean counters persuaded their colleagues that it was an expense that couldn’t be justified and more profit could be made by abandoning the scheme and in the process destroy the environment, but hey, no scruples where profit is involved.
A change in mindset is required and it doesn’t require rocket science to develop a deposit system and recycling regime that would address the scourge of discarded plastic.
How about a R10 deposit levy on not just plastic bottles and containers but all types of plastic packaging? I already hear howls of protest from those that claim to represent the poor that they will be discriminated against, but they won’t as the cool drink they purchased has a valuable bottle – the deposit of which can be redeemed on their next purchase.
Furthermore, the amount of existing discarded plastic that litters our roadsides, parks, trails and beaches will present a scavenging opportunity for the many jobless who can convert their booty into real money!
If properly recycled, the scheme will also keep plastic waste out of the landfill so a real win-win.
A beautiful trash free world awaits!
Eish.
