Have you ever read the back of a bottle and seen that it’s worth 10c in South Australia? We are really keen to see a similar refund system for all drink bottles and cans in New Zealand.
Container deposit-refund systems lead to extremely high recycling rates (up to 99% in Germany) and extremely low contamination rates. They also achieve extremely low litter rates – after all, most of us will pick up 10c if we see it lying in the gutter. In Norway, 97% of all plastic bottles are recycled, 92% to such a high standard they are turned back into drink bottles.