Waste giant backs deposit scheme for plastic bottles
ONE of Britain’s biggest waste collection firms has backed calls for a deposit scheme for plastic bottles. Suez UK has challenged objections from councils, the packaging industry and drinks giants such as Coca-Cola.
The British boss of the French firm, better known in Britain as SITA, described a deposit and refund scheme (DRS) as a ‘ winwin’ for families, businesses and the economy.
David Palmer- Jones said: ‘Investing in a UK-wide deposit scheme for plastic bottles makes not just environmental sense but, importantly, economic sense too.
‘It puts pounds in the pockets of both households and business through reduced waste disposal costs and reduced need to buy virgin raw materials.’
Green campaigners say the move by Suez is significant because it makes clear there is an economic case for deposits on plastic bottles and metal drinks cans. This sort of intervention led Germany to adopt a bottle deposit scheme more than ten years ago which has seen recycling rates soar.
Suez has contracts with 60 UK councils, providing household rubbish collections for 12million Britons as well as street cleaning. As a result, it understands the costs and benefits of a deposit and refund scheme.
Mr Palmer- Jones is a former chairman of the Environmental Services Association, the trade body for UK rubbish collection and recycling businesses, and is current president of its European equivalent. He has concluded that a bottle deposit scheme would save councils millions of pounds in waste collection. At the same time, tons of plastic which would otherwise go into landfill sites could be collected and reused.
Countries that already operate successful DRS schemes include Germany and Sweden, where plastic bottle collection is over 85 per cent – compared with less than 60 per cent in the UK, where recycling rates have stalled.
Every day, more than 15million plastic bottles in the UK are dumped after a single use rather than being collected and recycled.
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom is working on a new antilitter strategy amid concerns about the blight caused by plastic bottles and cans.
Last week, Whitehall insiders suggested ministers are sceptical about a bottle deposit scheme in England. This follows heavy lobbying from drinks firms and industry trade bodies.
Tories in Westminster, particularly the then-chancellor George Osborne, were also reluctant to support the 5p charge on plastic bags introduced in October 2015 – but ministers now hail it as a great success. Many local councils oppose a bottle deposit scheme, partly because it would affect their income as they would collect fewer plastic bottles and drinks cans to sell on.
Suez insists councils will save money. Mr Palmer- Jones said: ‘The country has already made huge leaps in the past decade, shifting from a throw-away society to culture of reuse and recycling, but we can’t waste an opportunity to make further improvements,.
‘At the moment, Government seems to be quick to rule out the introduction of various schemes such as this, but we have yet to see much in the way of positive alternative direction from them in addressing the problems we face with both flat-lining recycling rates and litter.’
Soft drinks firms have lobbied against DRS, amid concerns it will hit their profits. Other critics say there is no evidence such a scheme would reduce litter.
‘A throw-away society’