Labour push forward plans for a scheme for shoppers to pay a deposit on plastic bottles and cans to reduce litter and pollution_Nhy
A plan to increase recycling of plastic bottles and drinks cans will help restore pride in Britain by reducing littering, ministers claim.
They say a deposit return scheme (DRS) – where a consumer pays a deposit on a drink but gets this refunded when they return the container- will mean cleaner streets.
Labour passed laws to begin the introduction of the scheme last week. After numerous set backs over the years, it is expected to start in October 2027.
Environment minister Mary Creagh told the Daily Mail: ‘We want to put the pride back into Britain. We want to clean up Britain. And I think people really want to clean up their streets, their parks, their communities.
‘There’s a huge appetite for this, because we know that when you see an item that is littered it can end up leading to fly tipping, wider environmental crime, serious organized crime.’
The scheme is already working in countries including Ireland, which has a 90per cent return rate just a few months after its introduction.
Ministers are keen to compare the plans with adding charges to plastic bags – a campaign championed by the Mail which has led to a reduction in their use of more than 98per cent.
Returning bottles to the newsagents was commonplace between the 1950s and 1980s in Britain but was phased out when recycling was introduced.
A plastic bottle deposit scheme in Germany. The scheme is already working in countries including Germany and have seen a large success rate
Litter pickers on the beach (stock image). A plan to increase recycling of plastic bottles and drinks cans will help restore pride in Britain by reducing littering, ministers claim
While the plan for a DRS is in its infancy, it is expected to follow a similar pattern to some of those already in operation in other countries, including in Ireland.
Retailers will be expected to agree a deposit amount – it is the equivalent of 15-25p in other countries – which would be added to drinks when purchased.
Vending machines would then be installed in supermarkets and other retailers so that consumers could return plastic bottles or aluminium drinks cans.
They could then have the option of receiving their refund on to their bank card, a voucher to spend in store or donating it to charity.
Glass bottles are excluded from the scheme due to them making up a relatively low amount of litter – around three per cent – and recycling rates already being at high levels.
The DRS will be introduced in Scotland at the same time as England and Wales after plans by Holyrood to introduce it were beset by delays.
Ms Creagh, a former chair of the environment committee, said: ‘We know that we’ve got huge problems with a flow of litter into our high streets and our rivers, and a deposit return scheme prevents that litter going to landfill.
‘It reduces costs on local authorities, and crucially, it protects our birds, our treasured native species like voles and shrews, from getting trapped in plastic bottles and getting killed by dangerous plastic pollution.
Recycling organised into boxes. Returning bottles to the newsagents was commonplace between the 1950s and 1980s in Britain but was phased out when recycling was introduced
Environment minister Mary Creagh (pictured) told the Daily Mail: ‘We want to put the pride back into Britain. We want to clean up Britain. And I think people really want to clean up their streets, their parks, their communities’
‘We’re going to end this throw-away society and stop this avalanche of rubbish.’
The plans were originally put forward by the Tories under then environment secretary Michael Gove but were never enacted.
Ms Creagh said that the industry would run the collection scheme and determine the deposit amount.
She added that she was confident that British people would embrace it as readily as in other countries such as Ireland, Sweden and Germany.
‘As soon as there is money attached to plastic bottles and aluminium drinks cans, we will see behaviour change. We saw it with the introduction of the charge for carrier bags,’ she said.
‘I think all of the evidence shows that people are extremely supportive of the deposit return scheme. The evidence from Ireland, which has only run it for 10 months, is a 90 per cent return rate.
‘I’m ambitious and hoping for similar return rates here in the UK.’
She said that she expected not just supermarkets, but also smaller newsagents to embrace the changes because they would increase footfall.
