A deposit return scheme to increase recycling
rates and slash the amount of waste polluting our land and seas
will be introduced subject to consultation later this year, it
was confirmed today.
UK consumers go through an estimated 13 billion
plastic drinks bottles a year, but more than three billion are
incinerated, sent to landfill or left to pollute our streets,
countryside and marine environment.
To tackle this blight, the government has
confirmed it will introduce a deposit return scheme in England
for single use drinks containers (whether plastic, glass or
metal), subject to consultation later this year. The consultation
will look at the details of how such a scheme would work,
alongside other measures to increase recycling rates. We hope to
talk to the devolved administrations about the scope for working
together on this important issue.
Similar schemes already operate in countries
such as Denmark, Sweden and Germany. A deposit return scheme sees
consumers pay an up-front deposit when they buy a drink, ranging
from 8p in Sweden to 22p in Germany, which is redeemed on return
of the empty drink container. Possible variants of a deposit
return scheme include cash rewards for returning drinks
containers without an upfront deposit.
This is often done through a network of ‘reverse
vending machines’, where you insert your plastic or glass bottle
or can and the machine returns your money. Once a bottle is
returned, businesses are then responsible for making sure they
are effectively recycled – a move that has led to a 97% recycling
rate in Germany.
Environment Secretary said:
“We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking
havoc on our marine environment – killing dolphins, choking
turtles and degrading our most precious habitats. It is
absolutely vital we act now to tackle this threat and curb the
millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled.
“We have already banned harmful microbeads and
cut plastic bag use, and now we want to take action on plastic
bottles to help clean up our oceans.”
Following receipt of the Voluntary and Economics
Incentives Working Group report on single use drinks containers,
Defra is now developing plans for a deposit return scheme for
consultation later this year.
Today’s announcement is the latest move in the
government crackdown on plastic, following the plastic microbead
ban hailed as one of the world’s strongest bans and the 5p
plastic bag charge – which has led to 9 billion fewer bags
distributed. It sits alongside the 25 Year Environment Plan
commitment to eliminate avoidable plastic waste.
The consultation will follow the recent call for
evidence by HM Treasury on taxes and charges to reduce waste from
single-use plastics, so that all relevant findings can be fed
into the proposals.
Plastic bottles and drinks containers have a
significant impact on the environment, with discarded food and
drink containers making up at least a fifth of rubbish on
beaches. There are over 150 million tonnes of plastic in the
world’s oceans and every year one million birds and over 100,000
sea mammals die from eating and getting tangled in plastic
waste.
The consultation will take into account views
from producers, suppliers and consumers to ensure that any system
introduced works across the country. The consultation will
sit alongside a package of wider reforms of the current packaging
waste system, which will incentivise producers to take greater
responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products
and to increase the amount of packaging they recycle.
Today’s announcement comes ahead of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April, where member
states will gather in London and agree measures to protect our
oceans.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Options for a deposit return scheme will
be considered alongside other policies to improve recycling
rates. The government will only take forward options from
the consultation which demonstrate that they offer clear benefits
and are resistant to fraud, and costs on businesses, consumers
and the taxpayer are proportionate.
2. Last year, we launched the first
Litter
Strategy for England. This strategy sets out how we
will work with different local groups, local authorities,
Highways England and businesses to clean up the country, to
change attitudes towards littering, and strengthen enforcement
powers.
3. The Voluntary and Economics Incentives
Working Group report to Ministers will be published on GOV.UK
4. HM Treasury’s call for evidence on using the
tax system or charges to address single-use plastic waste is
currently live on GOV.UK
