Billionaire philanthorpist Richard Branson is calling for the establishment of “deposit refund systems” to help stem the flow of plastic into the earth’s oceans.
Such systems are able to gather nearly 100 percent of plastic bottles, resulting in their never getting dumped in the environment, Branson writes in a recent blog post:
“Deposit refund systems are currently operating in multiple countries and territories with a combined population of over 200 million. I remember this system working in the UK, collecting and re-using valuable glass bottles until the 1980s but it was phased out with the introduction of cheaper, single-use plastic bottles.”
Return rates in Germany are more than 98 percent, attesting to their effectiveness, according to Branson.
Check out Branson’s full blog post here.
There will soon be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Calling for a plastic deposit refund system: https://t.co/hIWJzMzk1n @oceanunite pic.twitter.com/gHFVKzSpd5
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) November 6, 2017
