Should there be a financial incentive to recycle?

It’s Recycle Week in the UK – a national campaign that encourages people to do their bit to recycle, reduce waste and reuse what they already have instead of buying new.

Recycling and waste management can be controversial topics – we all create it, yet many people believe it is the responsibility of the government to manage rather than the individual citizen. 

Recycling makes both environmental and economic sense; it can help preserve resources, save money and fight against climate change.

There’s huge opportunity for improvement, both through government initiatives and raising individual awareness.  In the UK, more than 50% of everything that goes to landfill could be recycled instead.

One opportunity to improve recycling would be to add a financial incentive – many European countries already do so with glass and plastics.

You pay a small surcharge – known as a deposit – on the price of everyday items like beer bottles, and then receive that deposit back when you return the bottles to an approved recycling point.

Today we’re asking – do you think there should be a financial incentive to recycle? Or is it up to us to take responsibility for the waste we create and do our bit? Share your opinions in the comments below!