Labour to back Mail campaign to boost recycling
A RADICAL scheme to help tackle the damage caused by discarded plastic will be backed by the Scottish Labour Party as it launches its manifesto today.
The party will outline plans to support the Scottish Daily Mail’s Banish the Bottles campaign by promising a bottle deposit scheme would be introduced.
The scheme has already gained widespread support, but today Labour will pledge to work with manufacturers and retailers in a manifesto commitment to tackle the litter problem, which sees 130,000 containers dumped in Scotland every day.
Today in Edinburgh, Kezia Dugdale will launch the blueprint, which will also include a plea for pro-Union voters to back her candidates at next month’s General Election. The Scottish Labour leader and Jeremy Corbyn will say in the manifesto that they will never support Scottish independence and commit to working ‘tirelessly’ to oppose the SNP’s plans for another divisive vote.
One of the radical policies is a bottle deposit scheme, with consumers charged a fee of up to 10p when buying bottled or canned drinks, to be refunded when containers are returned for recycling. The scheme has gained the backing of drinks giant Coca-Cola, which believes it is the ‘only show in town’ when it comes to clearing up Scotland’s beaches, towns, streets and countryside by reducing plastic waste.
Scottish Labour’s environment spokesman Claudia Beamish said: ‘We need to take greater steps to reduce waste in Scotland. That’s why Labour’s manifesto will back the Scottish Daily Mail’s campaign for plastic bottle deposit schemes across Scotland.’
A Holyrood sub-committee is set to report back to MSPs in the coming weeks after launching an investigation into the bottle deposit scheme with ‘stakeholder workshops’ to discuss how it would work and the likely impact.
A majority of MSPs has backed the scheme, with 66 members signing a motion supporting the principle and urging the Scottish Government to make a ‘prompt decision’.
John Mayhew, director of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, which is running the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign, said: ‘Whoever wins the election, we hope they will do the work needed to bring in deposits as quickly as possible.’
The manifesto also makes clear that Scottish Labour will never support the SNP’s separatist bid to take Scotland out of the UK. Miss Dugdale writes: ‘Labour opposes independence and a second divisive independence referendum. Independence is not the answer to dealing with Scotland’s flagging economy or our pressured public services.
‘The SNP has one focus – independence. Labour will campaign tirelessly to ensure that the desire of the majority of Scots to remain part of the UK is respected.’