UK SET FOR LEVY ON COFFEE CUPS

After huge public demand for tax on takeaway containers...

MINISTERS are poised to slap a ‘latte levy’ on throwaway coffee cups after overwhelming public backing for radical action on waste.

Taxes could also be introduced on other single-use items as part of the war on plastic pollution. A record 162,000 Britons responded to a Treasury consultation on how to deal with problem packaging and the vast majority supported action on disposable coffee cups and takeaway trays.

The unprecedented response means ministers will now use the Budget in the autumn to set out a range of tough measures.

Last night, Chancellor Philip Hammond signalled that single-use coffee cups, takeaway boxes and difficult to recycle black plastic

boxes were all in his sights. A senior Treasury official added his department would also be trying to use taxes to cut the use of ‘virgin’ plastic so producers used more recycled material.

The Mail’s Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign is calling for action to curb the waste spoiling our environment. Our coverage has already led to the introduction of a 5p levy on plastic bags, a ban on microbeads and pledges of action on a range of other items like plastic stirrers.

Earlier this year, Parliament’s cross-party environmental audit committee called for a ‘latte levy’ of 25p on disposable coffee cups – which have a plastic lining – to help reduce waste and encourage recycling. The revenue would be used to improve reprocessing facilities. Mr Hammond announced a consultation on new plastic taxes earlier this year. Among the responses was a support for levies on single-use items like plastic cutlery and plates, takeaway crisp and sweet packets and the plastic ‘yokes’ used in packs of beer. Balloons, sauce sachets, fruit netting and cling film were also listed.

There were also 241,950 signatories to a petition calling for the Government to make shoppers pay for throwaway plastic at the till in the same way they do so for carrier bags. Last night, Mr Hammond said the Government will ‘consider the most promising policies in more depth’ over the coming months. Ideas would include using tax to ‘ reduce demand for commonlysingle-use plastic items, including single-use coffee cups and takeaway boxes, and to ensure the right incentives are in place to encourage recycling of waste that is currently incinerated.’

Earlier this month, a study found that only a third of our plastic packaging was being recycled – with the rest heading for landfill or incineration.

Robert Jenrick, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, added that the ‘latte levy’ was under active consideration.

Thanking the Mail for its ‘powerful’ voice on plastic waste, he added: ‘We want to drive systemic change throughout the whole of the supply chain to encourage producers of single-use plastics to take greater responsibility to make the right choices when they make the packaging that ends up on shelves.’

Last night, campaigners welcomed the record-breaking response to the consultation. Louise Edge, of Greenpeace, said: ‘This is practically a people’s plastic charter calling on the Government to tax singleuse plastic. This is a public mandate to end the age of throwaway plastic.’

Hugo Tagholm, of Surfers Against Sewage, added: ‘This is a clear indication of the public appetite for more fiscal interventions to help reduce plastic pollution littering our environment.’

And Sian Sutherland, of campaign group A Plastic Planet, said ‘ the public have spoken’, adding: ‘Those who continue to use plastic must be taxed heavily and that revenue ring fenced to build a waste management infrastructure that is relevant for today, not our plastic yesterday.’

‘A people’s plastic charter’