PLASTIC BOTTLES VICTORY FOR MAIL
After we won 5p charge on plastic bags, Gove will unveil bottle deposit scheme
A DEPOSIT scheme for plastic bottles will be unveiled in days. The move is part of plans from Environment Secretary Michael Gove to drive up recycling rates and reduce By Jack Doyle and Sean Poulter litter. His officials are looking at ways of introducing a small charge on drinks cans and plastic bottles.
This deposit would be refunded to customers who took their empties to a new network of ‘reverse vending machines’. It is another victory for the Mail’s ten-year campaign against plastic pollution, which secured a major breakthrough with the levy on supermarket bags.
A leaked report shows that
adopting the scheme would boost the collection rates for plastic bottles from around 60 per cent to more than 85 per cent.
The move could also reduce the litter resulting from bottles and cans by at least 70 per cent, the report said.
Mr Gove is expected to reveal the detailed plans next week. He said last year that bottle return schemes were a ‘great idea’ and he wanted to examine how one would work.
Therese Coffey, a junior environment minister, has visited Norway to see whether its system could be adopted in the UK.
Mr Gove pledged to work urgently to combat plastic pollution after seeing shocking scenes of its effects on the environment in the BBC’s Blue Planet II.
The bottle deposit would need to be at least 15p to encourage customers to reclaim it, according to industry experts.
An estimated 35million plastic bottles and 20million aluminium cans are sold in the UK every day. Fewer than 60 per cent of bottles are recycled, fuelling a tide of litter and waste.
In countries with deposit schemes, recycling rates are higher than 90 per cent.
Campaigners insist a deposit scheme must cover all plastic drinks bottles, as well as aluminium cans and glass drinks bottles – if it is to be effective and financially viable.
Coca-Cola, Tesco, Iceland and the Co- op have all backed the idea.
The Mail has seen a study on bottle deposit schemes produced by the clean oceans camwaste paigning group, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It concludes: ‘A deposit scheme for plastic bottles and other applications increases volume and quality of collected packaging.
‘ In addition, implementing a deposit scheme reduces littering and results in neutral or positive economic gain when taking into account all costs.
‘A deposit scheme is the only proven, widely replicable mechanism to drive collection rates to 85 per cent and above.
‘In the US, at least eight states have statistics showing that due to a deposit scheme, beverage-related litter has been reduced by around 70 to 84 per cent.’
And the report – which combines a range of expert research – points to big savings for financially struggling local councils, which carry huge costs in dealing with household and litter.
It says: ‘ In Canada and the United States, over 20 studies have showed that deposit schemes have only net positive effects on municipal budgets, due to reduced or avoided costs of collection, treatment, disposal, and litter abatement.
‘The implementation of a deposit scheme in the UK has been predicted to create 3,000 to 4,300 full-time employment jobs, including an overall increase in the number of higher skilled jobs.’
Last night local councillors from all parties wrote to Mr Gove backing a full bottle and can deposit scheme.
The letter was written by Peter Wood, a Tory councillor in Sunderland, and endorsed by others from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Greens around the country.
It said: ‘Like you, we do not regard tackling litter in our towns, cities, countryside and seas as a partisan issue.
‘The communities we represent, whether rural or urban, want to see this problem dealt with as a matter of urgency.
‘ For drinks containers, whether cans or glass or plastic bottles, a solution is already in widespread use in other countries: deposit return. As long ago as July last year, you described deposit return as a great idea, and we agree.
‘We would therefore urge you to commit to such a system for England, one that will work well with the system currently being designed for Scotland.’
Samantha Harding, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, welcomed the political unity, saying: ‘It underlines the huge amount of support Michael Gove already has for a deposit return system.’
Dr Dominic Hogg, a recycling expert at the consultancy Eunomia, said some industry players had been trying to kill or water down plans for a deposit scheme.
‘There has been talk of limiting it to small “on the go” plastic bottles. That just will not work to address the massive problems we face,’ he said. It will only be effective if it covers all drinks bottles and cans – plastic, aluminium and glass.’
Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: ‘We are open-minded about a deposit return scheme. We’d be very supportive.’
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declined to comment last night.
Tanya Steele of WWF, the global wildlife charity, said: ‘Plastic bottles are littering our communities and oceans, choking wildlife and polluting our precious world. I applaud the Daily Mail campaign, which has made tackling plastics a front-page issue and one that can no longer be ignored.
‘We need action now to end our reliance on single-use plastic and improve how we recycle and reuse plastic products.’