UK producers may pay for waste disposal

LONDON — The United Kingdom is to set out plans to overhaul its recycling system on Monday, including making plastic packaging producers pay the full cost of dealing with their waste and introducing a deposit return scheme for cans and bottles.

The plans, which also aim to make household rubbish collections more consistent around the country, will be introduced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove and go out for consultation for three months.

“We will introduce a world-leading tax to boost recycled content in plastic packaging, make producers foot the bill for handling their packaging waste, and end the confusion over household recycling,” Gove said in a statement.

The tax will be payable by producers who fail to use enough recycled material.

At present, producers pay only around 10 percent of the cost of dealing with plastic packaging waste, the environment ministry said.

Under an Extended Producer Responsibility system, the industry will pay higher fees if its packaging is harder to reuse or recycle.

EPR for packaging will raise nearly $1 billion a year for recycling and disposal, the ministry said, adding that government will seek views on two options for how a deposit return scheme might work for cans and glass or plastic bottles.

The first would target a large amount of drinks on the market, irrespective of container size. The second, known as the “on-the-go” model, would concern smaller container sizes — those most often sold for consumption outside the home.

“This could drive up the recycling of an estimated three billion plastic bottles which are currently incinerated, sent to landfill or left to pollute streets, countryside and the marine environment,” the ministry said.