Seite - 291 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

An example of a large retail store taking up waste reduction strategies is the Amazon.com, Inc., with its program“Frustration-Free Packaging,”which aims to reduce packaging volume and complexity. The company claims to have saved 11,000 tons of packaging during 5 years, including reductions of styrofoam and thin plastic films [109]. Possibly the most established way of avoiding excessive waste and saving valuable resources is in the formofcontainerdeposit fees, especially forbeverages (Fig.3b).Thishasbeenshownashighlyeffective to reduce theamountofwaste in the environment with return rates as high as 90% and higher in Sweden and Germany for several materials commonly used in beverage production (metal, glass, plastic) [110,111].Deposit return strategies aremoreefficient thancurbside recycling programs [112], largely because of themonetary incentive for recovery (“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”). For example, the “Pfand geh€ort daneben” campaign in Germany (“Deposit bottles belong next to it [the garbage bin]”)encourages thepublic to leaveunwanteddeposit returnbottlesaccessible for easy pick up by private waste collectors and not trashing them in a garbage bin Fig.3 Initiatives to reduceor recuperatepackagingwaste. (a)¼“Unverpackt” store inGermany wherecustomerscanbuyfoodinbulk,bringingtheirowncontainers.©MartinThiel.(b)¼Reverse vendingmachines accepting glass andplastic bottles and aluminumcans in a supermarket in the United States.©AlexKirsch. (c)¼Advertisement of the “Pfand geh€ort daneben”-campaign in Germany, advocating to leave deposit return bottles inGermanynext to the garbagebin in order foreasypickup©Pfandgeh€ortdaneben2016. (d)¼“Feria libre” inChile, allowingcustomers to buyvegetables and fruits in bulk (public domain, JorgeValde´sR. Joval) Microplastic:WhatAre theSolutions? 291