in a uk first iceland\'s new plastic-munching recycling scheme is helping save the environment and takes a bite out of your shopping bill... but robert hardman asks why every other supermarket isn\'t following suit

You can see them when they walk past the door of the store.
They are already full of luggage.
They all know the score.
You just stick the bottle in the hole and wait for the spin and sudden, reassuring \"squeeze\"
When it\'s pressed, thunk\' and then see your refund on the screen.
Finally, a receipt will pop up that you can use to redeem your shopping bill or donate to a charity.
Simple, painless, common sense-
Consider the return of each bottle.
It is much more profitable than the incentive schemes offered by some retail chains.
Spend £ 100 in some stores and you may get a few pennies back on your loyalty card.
10 p per bottle in Iceland.
Add up soon. A 24-
For example, the price of packing 500 ml bottles of mineral water is 3, but when you get the bottle back, it is actually only 60 p.
Although similar plans have been implemented on a large scale in some European countries over the years, the UK is still in a trial phase.
Iceland took the lead in implementing the pilot program in a few places.
However, the results themselves illustrate the problem.
Yesterday, the company announced that it has recovered more than 300,000 bottles in a few months, with an average of more than 2,500 bottles per day.
There are only five machines.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the roughly 14 billion plastic bottles that the British public passes each year, but it shows the amazing potential of a proper national deposit plan.
It also raises a very simple question: what exactly are we waiting?
I am in the Icelandic branch of North End Road, London, standing next to the first machine installed in the UK.
Since its launch in last May, it has been engaged in stable trade.
Photographer Joanna Ioannou said: \"I like it, I don\'t understand why every supermarket in the country doesn\'t have these,\" as she does every few weeks, she put the contents of the four handbags into the bright red machine.
\"It definitely keeps me going back here. ’So-
In parts of Scandinavia, so-called return vending machines have been around for more than 20 years on this long, cold night, taking back your emptiness is now a part of everyday life just like meatballs and bleak police drama.
The number of plastic bottles in landfill sites is now zero.
In the UK, we may throw our plastic bottles in with other recycled items, but this is very successfuland-miss business.
It just needs an old diaper or a little bit of ketchup to make the whole sport pointless.
It turns out that instead of recycling it, we ship a lot of it to China or anywhere else that will hold a lot of non-
Biodegradable garbageAny litter-
Pick the survey to put plastic beverage bottles at the top of any list.
When I was in the Daily Mail last year
I remember a lot on the Sussex coast.
In this country, anyone of a particular age will remember the days when the children would collect empty glass bottles and then spend a few pennies bringing them back to the local store.
But the glass is bulky and dangerous.
If left on the beach, the child may be injured.
That\'s why we are all happy when plastic starts to consume our lives.
Now, due to the impact of projects such as David Attenborough\'s Blue Planet and the long term activities of the Daily Mail
The public has finally acknowledged the threat of our one-time culture to the Earth and the ocean.
There is no doubt that people will soon develop the habit of putting bottles in machines that pay for their troubles.
There is enough research across Europe to show that it works.
In Germany, for example, they pay a deposit of about 20 p on each plastic beverage container and when they stick it to the machine, they take it back.
2011, up to 98.
5% of plastic bottles are recycled every year.
In the UK, by contrast, we recycle about two-thirds.
This is a lot of rubbish and dirt left for Mother Nature.
So, would it really be that difficult to introduce a national plan here?
It is reported that there is no problem with the machines in Iceland.
But, like a tax on plastic bags --
Under the pressure of many years of mail
If these things are to work, the government needs to take the lead.
What is the obstacle?
Michael Gove, minister of the environment, promised us a deposit return plan (DRS)
At some point, wait for negotiation.
However, there is little enthusiasm in his department.
A spokesman said the consultation on the deposit return plan will ensure that we implement the plan correctly in the long term.
But we welcome the efforts made by Iceland and other organizations to address this issue.
In other words, don\'t hold your breath.
In Fulham, Iceland, everything is very simple.
Simon Felstead, the manager, says his Swedish.
The designed machine is actually maintenance-free.
The only thing it doesn\'t like is the bottles that have been squashed and those that are not plastic.
It has bar code sensors that can spit out anything that is not appropriate and can detect anything that is not sold in Iceland.
Each batch of crushed plastic was collected by the next delivery truck and then taken to the nearest warehouse where it was sent for recycling.
\"This ensures a completely clean recycling process,\" explains Niklas Engstrom, sales director of RVM Systems, a Scandinavian company that makes machines . \".
The company currently operates thousands in 15 countries, but so far there are only a few dozen in the UK.
It was Iceland that led the way last summer, just like it was the first chain to remove the ecosystem.
The unfriendly palm oil in its product line is also the first palm oil to promise to stop packaging plastic food.
Since then, Tesco and Morrison have also tried out experimental machines in some branches.
This result has impressed the Scottish government and is expected to start sometime next year.
The Prince of Wales was one of those who strongly supported the idea.
At present, retailers themselves bear the cost of these trial return plans.
However, once a proper deposit system is up and running, the system is designed to run on its own.
Retailers even receive a small amount of money when handling each bottle.
The only losers are those who throw away empty boxes.
So why inertia?
Some have accused the waste management industry of lobbying the government against a plan that would crack down on garbage revenue.
We can all imagine the thumb.
Side and chin
Whitehall officials responsible for the implementation of the plan were arrested.
So now it\'s Mr Gove\'s turn to whip.
In his previous work, he has shown that he is, in essence, a reformist.
He said before Christmas that I am a person who likes to move on where possible, but we need to make sure that we have a plan to make sure we meet our obligations.
One thing that confuses shoppers back in Iceland is why it took so long.
Student Sima Moslehi said it was much more convenient for me to buy water and drinks elsewhere, but I came here because of this machine.
\"Now is part of my daily life.
\"It should soon be a part of everyone\'s daily life.
Even if that\'s not the case, what enterprising child will leave the empty bottle on the beach when it\'s really valuable?