All across Scotland, whenever cans or bottles are discarded, it’s up to local council staff to go round picking them up. It’s hard work, and the amount of litter makes it extremely expensive for local taxpayers. Reducing litter, which deposit return systems do around the world, would save both councils and the public substantial sums across the country.

Litter isn’t just expensive to deal with – it’s also really unpopular, and for good reason. Who wants to take their kids to play in a park strewn with empty bottles? Or to find discarded cans in their garden? A well-run deposit return system will help every community in Scotland, whether rural or urban, look more attractive, and be more appealing to live and work in.

There are other benefits for local councils, too. Some cans and bottles are of course already collected through kerbside recycling, and even though they are less well-sorted than the material recovered by a deposit return system, they do have a value. However, a deposit return system will typically save money overall by reducing both the volume of recycling that councils need to collect and the number of journeys council vehicles need to make.

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