Time to bring back the empties?

Sir, – Fiona McMahon (February 12th) is absolutely right to call for the introduction of a refundable deposit on all recyclable containers. In the absence of a clear national strategy to discourage littering, this seems like a very straightforward measure which local or national government could pass very easily.

As a member of an environmental group in Inchicore in Dublin, we spend most of our time picking up cans and bottles from pavements, paths, hedges and even the canal. All this time could be much better spent actually improving our local village rather than merely cleaning up after litterbugs.

Who could be against such a measure? Consumers would get their money back when returning empties to shops, childdren could collect empties to return them for pocket money and retailers would do their bit for the environment by facilitating this recycling endeavour. – Yours, etc,

VINCENT HIBBERT,

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Inchicore,

Dublin 8.