Michael Marks (Letters, 17 October) said that the plastic bag charge needs to be followed by one for plastic bottles in order to cut the huge number not recycled. We lived for six years in the Netherlands, where people are much more oriented towards recycling. Plastic drinks bottles had a tax on them which was refunded when they were returned to the store. This was on soft drinks as well as alcohol bottles.

Every household had a dustbin with a microchip. You paid only for rubbish that you couldn’t recycle. You could have your bin emptied as often as you liked but you paid for it each time. Our bin was only emptied once a month as everything else – paper, metal, plastic – was collected free. This system worked really well.

Jasmine Eaton

Banbury, Oxfordshire

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