Money-back deposit plan for plastic bottles to cut pollution

CONSUMERS COULD face paying a deposit on drinks bottles and cans which is repaid when they hand them in for recycling, under Government plans to tackle plastic waste.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove confirmed Ministers would introduce a deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers such as plastic and glass bottles and aluminium cans in England, subject to consultation.

The move aims to boost recycling rates and cut litter, and comes amid increasing concern over the issue of single-use plastic waste, much of which ends up as rubbish polluting the countryside and oceans. UK consumers use an estimated 13 billion plastic drinks bottles a year, but 3 billion are incinerated, sent to landfill or end up as litter in towns, countryside and seas, officials said.

Some countries already have deposit return schemes which charge an upfront deposit on drinks containers, ranging from 8p in Sweden to 22p in Germany, that is redeemed when the empty bottle or can is returned.

The consultation will look at how such a scheme could work, alongside other measures to increase recycling rates, which have stalled in recent years. Options for a scheme could include providing cash rewards for returning bottles and cans without an upfront deposit, through “reverse vending machines” where consumers insert the container and get coins in return.

Mr Gove said: “We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking havoc on our marine environment – killing dolphins, choking turtles and degrading our most precious habitats.”