When I was rather younger than I am now, it was normal for bottles to be recycled. Empty glass milk bottles were left out to be removed, cleaned and reused; glass bottles of drinks such as squash, lemonade and similar types were usually sold with the promise that returning them, once empty, would carry the reward of a few coppers being returned, often to a child who would be only to happy to 'run to the shop' with the empty knowing that there'd be money for sweets as a result.
Over the years, the milkman and his bottles have largely disappeared and the very notion of returning 'empties' of any sort has gone the same way. It's far too much trouble and far easier to simply throw the now ubiquitous plastic bottles away. Of course, the number of bottles has also increased exponentially as it's become a habit for many to carry around bottles of water wherever they go, though heaven knows why. The result is that the recycling of these mountains of mostly unnecessary plastic bottles has now become a serious problem.
Today's news carries a story which suggests the UK may now adopt a recycling bottle scheme in use in Norway. Sparing no expense to investigate the obvious, a ministerial delegation has apparently visited Norway to see if the UK could adopt the scheme which, it is claimed, has increased the rate of recycling for plastic bottles to some 97%. Unsurprisingly, the Norwegian scheme is based on there being a refundable deposit attached to each bottle, thus encouraging purchasers to return them.
It seems that we are heading back to where we started all those years ago. So much for new and modern being better than old, tried, trusted and proven.
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