The Portuguese government has decided to reward consumers by offering them 5 cents for every plastic bottle returned.
To encourage the collection of plastic and achieve new, ambitious, environmental objectives, the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment with a decree has decided to reward citizens who return PET plastic bottles. Howevergni bottle returned, with a capacity greater than half a liter, the value of the corresponding voucher will be 5 cents and 2 cents for the smaller bottles. A sort of good old returnable void, however, made with plastic packaging and directly incentivized by the government.
The discount vouchers, whose value will therefore depend on the number of bottles returned, will be delivered to consumers before the end of the year. But this is only the latest in a series of initiatives promoted by the Portuguese government to reduce the consumption of plastic, in fact long ago it targeted straws, shopping bags and other consumer items made with this material.
This time, however, the policy adopted is different because it rewards the consumer, in the hope that it will bring important results. As stated, the government will not be giving away cash, but discount coupons of equivalent value, to be used when shopping or to participate in sweepstakes and donations.
In general good ecological practices are at the center of attention of the current government, which has pledged, among other things, to replace government cars with electric cars, and which foresees an increase in taxes on the most polluting products in the near future. In short, an example to follow, of which Europe, increasingly sensitive on the subject given the worrying data on plastic pollution, will certainly be proud.
Read the decree here
On the incentive collection you may also be interested in:
- Food for… garbage! The first 'garbage cafe' opens in India where meals are paid for with plastic
- Even in Rome, the metro ticket can be paid for with… plastic bottles
- Goodbye single-use plastic. Europe officially bans plates, cutlery and straws
- It's definitive: Europe confirms the ban on disposable plastics by 2021
Laura Rose
