Photo: RNZ
A zero waste advocate wants to rewind the clock to the bottle return schemes of the 70s and 80s, where an empty container was a money earner.
A new survey found three quarters of New Zealanders supported a money back scheme for empty drink bottles, cans and cartons - and the support went across the political divide.
In August, the Ipsos study asked 1002 adults about a scheme where 20 cents refundable deposit was added to the price of drinks sold in bottles, cans and cartons.
Consumers could then claim the deposit back when they returned their empties to a collection point.
Zero Waste Aotearoa's external affairs manager Sue Coutts told Morning Report bottle return schemes introduced overseas had shown an uptake in recycling and reduction in environmental rubbish.
She said if New Zealand followed suit, it could see the number of people recycling increase dramatically - estimating a jump from 45 to 90 percent of the population - and also a "radical reduction in litter".
"Because if you see a bottle or can lying around - on the roadside, at the beach, in the parks - you know that every single one you pick up is worth 20c to you, so it's really good incentive to do a bit of a clean-up."
Coutts said the survey also showed that "everybody is keen" with a majority of voters across most parties backing it, ranging from 67 percent of ACT voters to 84 percent of Greens, with Labour, National and NZ First voters hovering around 75-80 percent.
She said companies such as Foodstuffs, Woolworths, the Warehouse, and Coca Cola were also behind a bottle return scheme and were signatories to a letter to the government asking for its introduction.
She said legislation providing for better "product stewardship" was needed.
"That means that when a company puts packaging or products onto the market, they have to take more responsibility for what happens to them at the end of their life."
Coutts said this would see companies, rather than ratepayers and councils, covering the cost of recycling.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
