What’s the plastic bottle deposit scheme, what has Michael Gove said and how would it work?
Green levy is meant to cut plastic pollution, which kills more than 100million marine animals each year
SHOPPERS in England face paying a redeemable deposit of up to 22p on every bottle and can in an environmental policy unveiled by Michael Gove.
Here's what you need to know about the deposit return scheme, which could be up and running as early as Spring 2019.
What is a deposit return scheme and how would it work?
Shoppers will pay an extra charge on every single-use drinks bottle made of plastic or glass, or can made of aluminium or steel.
They will get the money back when they return the empty containers to the shop.
A network of "reverse vending machines" could be used across the country to collect bottles and return deposits.
The aim is to increase recycling and cut rubbish and pollution.
Full details are yet to be decided, including how much the deposit will be.
In similar schemes elsewhere the deposit ranges from around 6p in Australia to 22p in Germany.
Denmark, Sweden and Norway also reward shoppers for returning plastic bottles. The schemes are said to have drastically increased recycling.
In Norway, a standard 500ml drinks bottle has a deposit of about 10p, larger ones 25p.
Around 96 per cent of bottles are returned.
Local shopkeepers say it also brings in customers who may buy something else while returning bottles.
The new scheme in England is expected to target single-use bottles rather than reusable ones as in the old days.
Scots drinks maker AG Barr, whose brands include Irn Bru, ran a 30p deposit return scheme for glass bottles for more than 100 years until August 2017.
The Scottish government has already announced plans for a deposit return scheme and Wales has launched a study to consider it.
What has Michael Gove said about the deposit return scheme?
Environment secretary Michael Gove first revealed he was considering a deposit scheme at the Tory party conference in October.
Ministers decided on action after the BBC's Blue Planet II highlighted how wildlife is choking on a "plastic soup" of pollution in the oceans.
Plastic waste is said to kill more than 100 million marine animals a year.
In March, The Sun revealed Mr Gove was poised to unveil his plans to slash Britain's plastic waste mountain.
Britain is thought to use nearly 40 million plastic bottles a day – but only half make it to recycling with 16 million going in landfill, burnt or dumped before washing out to sea.
Five days later Mr Gove officially gave it the green light, launching a formal consultation later this year.
He said it was “absolutely vital to tackle the threat” posed by plastic rubbish.
Campaigner Bill Bryson, author and former President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England called it “supremely enlightened policymaking”.
The British Soft Drinks Association said it would be fully behind the plan. Gavin Partington BSDA director general told The Sun: “We’d be very supportive.”
Since taking over as Environment Secretary he has won over green groups with a blitz on waste – revealing plans to extend a plastic bag charge to small shops and in February suggesting plastic straws could be banned.
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What is the plastic tax?
Brits using bubble wrap, takeaway food boxes and plastic cutlery could face increased charges under a new tax.
Chancellor Philip Hammond called for a review in his Autumn Budget into whether a charge on single-use plastics would help tackle extreme waste.
But it could hit shoppers’ pockets directly, as the Chancellor has not yet ruled out levying a charge on consumers as well as manufacturers in a repeat of the 5p plastic bag fee.
A tax on plastics would come as part of the ground-breaking moves to clean up the world's rubbish-strewn oceans - as 12 million tonnes of waste are said to enter them every year.
The Treasury said the amount of single-use plastic wasted in the UK every year could fill London's Royal Albert Hall 1,000 times over.
Plastics that are usually only used once - like bubble wrap, take-away containers and plastic cutlery, would be affected by the move.