In some countries, there is not enough recycling of waste materials (e.g. paper, glass and cans). What are the reasons and solutions?

Improving the recycling rate of

waste

materials

has been a hot subject since the emergence of raw

materials

shortage at the beginning of

this

century.

However

, relevant efforts seem not to achieve the expected effects in many nations. It seems to me that the reason behind the issue is that we lack effective reward mechanisms. The first issue has been common, namely, we loudly advocate for

people

to engage in environmental activities but do not offer them rewards. The Football World Cup held in Germany provides a vivid illustration of how willing

people

are to recycle

waste

materials

when offered considerable rewards. The organisers will repay each customer two dollars for helping recycle Coke bottles, which has significantly increased the recycling rate of Coke bottles. The example has clearly indicated that the

government

lead

people

to be environmental with practical benefits rather than eloquent words. Against the issue mentioned above, I suggest the

government

allocate more funds to reward

people

for recycling

waste

materials

.

This

proposal can be realised in many forms, not only in the form of immediate refund as adopted by the German

government

.

For example

, the

government

can set up "Recycling ATMs" in the street. If burghers throw metal cans or plastic bottles into the machine, it will print to them vouchers which can be used in local supermarkets.

According to

Japan's experiments,

this

strategy is considerably useful. To summarize, the comparatively low recycling rate of

waste

materials

in some countries is partly

due to

the lack of economic stimulus.

Therefore

, I suggest the

government

consider more investment into material rewards, which has been demonstrated by many countries as an effective strategy.