[siedes]

Incentive for who though? For the homeless and very poor, who probably will not even be the ones purchasing those bottles(at least at the same rate as those in higher economic classes) in the first place? We need to make it worth it for the good number of consumers who buy these things, so that they don't litter in the first place and put more thought about those $0.50-$1.00 per bottle they're tossing out. Yes, this may make it so that less bottles are available for the homeless/impoverished, but I think we should be doing way more for them than giving them the scraps that are 10 cent bottles...

[benj111]

The UK introduced a carrier bag charge scheme. Overnight usage dropped 80%, and that was for a 5p charge. Now I don't think many people would stop to pick up 5p off the street, but people will jump through the hoops to avoid paying the 5p. These things work, even at a relatively low threshold. Don't forget you're only aim to nudge what people know they should already be doing.

https://www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/theplasticfreeprojec...

[Spooky23]

Maybe I’m a weirdo, but as long as I can remember, my family holds on to bottles and returns them to the market every couple of weeks.

Littering is a douche thing to do. There should be some social stigma attached to it.

[jerrysievert]

a little more than that - oregon has bags that can be returned full without counting and left in a secured room to have the money deposited to an account a few days later. given that these are typically at grocery stores and several of them add on a redemption percentage (fred meyer adds 20% for in-store credit use), the number of non-homeless making returns is high.

[Quenty]

It’s a psychological effect. Same reason why Whole Foods charged $0.25 to get a cart, and then returned you the money. People tend to return the carts after paying the money.