NIALL O'DONOGHUE,
Sir, - Chris Dooley's report on the launch of a recycling campaign in Kilkenny (The Irish Times, January 9th) includes a photo of an environmental awareness officer and two environmental litter wardens throwing standard 1-litre and 2-litre plastic bottles into a skip.
Why does recycling have to be complicated and unautomated in Ireland? Surely it makes more sense for consumers to return standard bottles directly to shops. There are machines which accept empty bottles and refund the consumer in the foyer of practically every medium and large shop here in Finland. The drinks distributors simply collect returned empty bottles during their deliveries to the shops.
Have retail chains in Ireland ever considered installing bottle return-and-refund machines? Has the Department for the Environment ever considered legislating that such machines should be provided by retailers? Make recycling simple! - Yours, etc.
NIALL O'DONOGHUE,
Narva,
Finland.