Deposit scheme is the ‘best way to clean up the world’s oceans’

A DEPOSIT scheme for plastic bottles would be the most effective way to tackle ocean pollution, a study argues.

Plastic from bottles is said to be responsible for one-third of the total found on beaches or in the seas – where it is eaten by fish and ends up on our plates.

The Green Alliance, an environmental thinktank and charity, argues introducing a deposit and refund system in the UK could ensure 95 per cent of plastic bottles are collected and recycled.

The study will fuel the momentum for the introduction of a bottle deposit scheme, similar to those that operate in Germany and much of Scandinavia.

The Scottish Daily Mail has campaigned for a crackdown on the tide of plastic bottles polluting Britain.

The Green Alliance study said: ‘The Government should listen, introduce a bottle deposit scheme, and enforce rules on sources of industrial waste. This would address two-thirds of the UK’s marine plastic problem.’

UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced a ban on the use of ‘plastic poison’ microbeads in rinse-off beauty products and has also signalled support for the idea of a bottle deposit and return scheme.

The UK Government has now set up a working party on litter which is looking into the possibility.

Dustin Benton, acting policy director for the Green Alliance, said: ‘It’s depressing to visit a beach that is covered with plastic, and downright scary to learn that the seafood you are eating might be contaminated by plastic pollution. The popularity of the microbeads ban and plastic bag charge shows the public is up for tackling these problems.’

The Green Alliance study states: ‘Our analysis shows that the single most effective action would be to stop plastic bottles getting into the sea through a bottle deposit and return scheme.

‘The largest proportion – 33 per cent – of plastic litter comes from plastic bottles, and this problem is likely to escalate as global bottle production is forecast to jump by 20 per cent by 2021.

‘Deposit return schemes are already widely implemented abroad and have been very successful – for example, nearly 100 per cent of plastics bottles are returned for recycling in Germany.

‘They also provide access to more highquality plastics for recycling, preventing them from going to landfill, incineration or finding their way into the environment.’