PAY ON PLASTIC

Brits could find their takeaways and favourite drinks cost more with plastic tax to hit containers and disposable cutlery

By Aletha Adu

21st November 2017, 9:22 am

Updated: 21st November 2017, 12:26 pm

BRITS using bubble wrap, takeaway food boxes and plastic cutlery could face increased charges under a new tax.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to call for a review tomorrow into whether a charge on single-use plastics would help tackle extreme waste.

PA:Press Association

The charge on single-use plastics – including polystyrene takeaway boxes – is part of the Government’s strategy to tackle ocean pollution

He will announce 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.

More than a million sea birds and 100,00 sea mammals die after swallowing it.

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.

Reuters

Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce the scheme on Wednesday

Getty Images - Getty

Ministers are already mulling a plastic bottles returns scheme to try and target waste

Ministers are already considering a plastic bottle return scheme to try and boost recycling rates.

Environment Secretary Micheal Gove has vowed to take action over plastic pollution, after being “haunted” by Sunday night’s Blue Planet episode showing its devastating effects.

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.

Tisha Brown, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace UK, welcomed the move.

She said: “Ocean plastic pollution is a global emergency, it is everywhere from the Arctic Ocean at the top of the world, to the Marianas Trench at the bottom of the Pacific.

“It’s in whales, turtles and 90 per cent of sea birds, and it’s been found in our salt, our tap water and even our beer.

“The Treasury’s announcement is only a statement of intent, but it recognises the significance of the problem and the urgent need for a solution. There is a long way to go, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end for single-use plastic.”

The tax comes just over two years after the plastic carrier bag charge was introduced across the UK and there has since been an 80 per cent reduction in bag use.

Short-finned pilot whale seen on Blue Planet II carrying dead baby calf around the ocean for days after death by plastic pollution

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