Shoppers face 5p tax levy on plastic bottles

SHOPPERS could be forced to pay a 5p tax on single use plastic bottles to help clean up the environment, Theresa May has said.

The prime minister said that she was considering a levy on plastic bottles to change consumer behaviour.

A similar levy on carrier bags resulted in an 83 per cent fall in the number of single-use plastic bags taken home since 2015.

Mrs May is due to set out her plans for the environment in a major speech on Thursday.

She said she wanted to tackle the problem after the volume of plastic in our seas was highlighted on Blue Planet II. She told the Andrew Marr

Show: “In 2015 we introduced the 5p charge on carrier bags. It’s making a real difference. We want to do the same in relation to single plastic use. Nobody who watched Blue Planet II will doubt the need for us to do something – and we will.”