Green jobs in bottle recycling

A bottle deposit scheme which refunds consumers for recycling their drinks containers could create thousands of green jobs, campaigners have said.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said a "deposit refund system" for drinks cans and bottles could create posts in the waste collection and processing sector, maintenance and engineering roles and office-based staff to run the programme.

The scheme proposed by the countryside campaigners would include a small deposit in the cost of buying the drink - 15p for containers smaller than 500 millilitres and 30p for larger ones - which is refunded if consumers return it to a retailer or collection point.

Research for CPRE suggests the equivalent of 4,000 full time jobs could be created by the scheme, including 350-400 higher-skilled jobs and 100 office staff, who could be based in an area with high unemployment.

The CPRE supports a bottle deposit scheme because it would help tackle the problem of littering. It has also conducted research which suggests it could generate money through voluntary donations for charities and community groups.

The charity's president, author Bill Bryson, said: "Politicians tell us that the economy of the future will be driven by green industry and create new green jobs. Well this research shows how this can be done.

"CPRE has shown how a modern deposit system would work and the manifest benefits that would result."

The research is being presented at the TUC climate change conference.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said: "Bottle deposit schemes were once commonplace and 30 years ago people regularly returned their bottles of pop to the local corner shop.

"But the advent of cheaper packaging and plastic containers meant the schemes eventually lost their appeal. Now it's definitely time to bring them back."