 A 'recycling lottery' may prompt more people to go green |
A "recycling lottery" should be introduced in the UK to encourage more people to become environmentally friendly, a consumer watchdog says. People who recycle their household waste would be entered into a free draw with a chance to win cash prizes.
The National Consumer Council believes incentives, not preaching, are the best way to encourage people to go green.
A similar scheme run in Norway, which offers a first prize of nearly �15,000, has seen recycling rates rise.
The BBC's Richard Scott said participants bundle together drinks cartons and attach their name and contact number when put out for recycling. They are then entered into a quarterly draw.
Recycling doubled
The Norwegian scheme is run by a not for profit company set up by the packing industry.
The percentage of people recycling cartons in Norway has now doubled.
The National Consumer Council thinks the scheme could work in the UK.
It particularly wants to target batteries, saying that fewer than 5% of them are recycled.
The UK currently recycles just 14.5% of household waste compared to 59% in the Netherlands and 58% in Austria.
However, figures released in January show England is set to hit its 17% recycling rate target for 2003/4.
In 2005/06, 25% of household waste must be recycled.
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