Government is considering a bill to reintroduce deposits on empties to curb the thousands of discarded bottles which litter Bermuda.

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott said the plan would encourage an entrepreneurial spirit in youngsters as they sifted for lucrative litter.

Keep Bermuda Beautiful executive director Lennox Boodram backed plans to research the issue after revealing that bottles were the number one source of trash.

He said a single area sweep in April last year had netted more than 4,000 empty bottles.

Mr. Scott said bottle deposits might be an idea that needed to be revived.

He said: "It used to work many years ago. I don't remember when it stopped, but it worked like a charm.

"Children might go and look for bottles. Parents, rather than giving their children money, could tell them to go and earn it and we'll get more of the bottles into the garbage stream as opposed to the hedges along the roads where people just throw them away.'' He said youth and community groups could find clean-ups were a way of easily earning cash.

Mr. Scott said he was not committed to a bottle bill but had an open mind about it.

If introduced, retailers would be forced to pay the deposit as they were the ones importing the bottles, said Mr. Scott.

He declined to speculate on what the deposits would be set at.

And he denied retailers would merely opt for plastic containers. He said the small Bermuda market was unlikely to be able to lobby US manufacturers into changing their packaging.

Mr. Boodram said: "It's definitely an option we need to look at. It might not be the sole solution but it can be part of the solution.'' He noted more needed to be done on recycling generally and called for a combined effort from the entire community.

He said: "It's not the way it should be. I'm not happy or satisfied with the stage it is.

"But it will be a slow process. It has to be a joint all-round effort between Government, business and the media.

"I think the present programmes should be expanded.

"There is the argument that it's not economically wise but at the same time I would like to see it from an environmental stand point -- recycling always benefits the environment.'' Large scale paper recycling is currently uneconomical due to high costs of shipping but Mr. Boodram said this did not mean innovative ways could not be found to get extra use out of old paper.

At CedarBridge Academy, used paper is shredded and pressed into service as packaging for shippers Mailboxes Unlimited Ltd.

Mr. Boodram said: "People should be creative. Instead of buying memo paper, companies could use the other side of used paper. It might seem tacky, but it's a way of getting extra life from it.

"I would like to see a new recycling plant built close to the incinerator to make it more convenient to move items back and forth.'' Mr. Boodram recognised that finding space for this would not be easy.

He said: "It would have been better if it had been properly thought out in the beginning.''