Brits face paying a deposit of up to 22p on plastic bottles in bid to stop waste ‘wreaking havoc’
Environment Secretary is set to announce plastic bottle recycling scheme that would see shoppers putting down a 22p deposit on glass and plastic bottles
BRITS face a green levy of up to 22p on plastic bottles as Michael Gove gives the green light to Britain’s first ever nationwide deposit recycling scheme.
As revealed by The Sun five days ago, the Environment Secretary will announce he plans to consult later this year on a anti-rubbish drive where Brits will get cash back for plastic and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans.
It could go live as early as next Spring with customers paying a deposit of up to 22p on bottles or cans - redeemable when they return them.
A similar scheme in Germany charges the same levy.
In a statement, Mr Gove said it was “absolutely vital to tackle the threat” posed by plastic rubbish.
He 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.
“We have already banned harmful microbeads and cut plastic bag use, and now we want to take action on plastic bottles to clean up our oceans.”
And the move was lapped up by campaigners with Bill Bryson, author and former President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England calling it a “supremely enlightened policymaking”.
He said: “This raises the prospect of the world’s most beautiful country becoming free from drinks container litter at last.”
Similar deposit return schemes (DRS) already operate in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Germans pay an up-front deposit and redeem it when they return the empty drink container.
Once returned business is responsible for making sure they’re effectively recycled.
UK consumers use an estimated 13billion plastic drinks bottles a year – with more than 3billion sent to landfill, incinerated or dumped on the streets or in the sea.
Mr Gove’s latest move follows the extension of the 5p plastic bag charge, a ban on microbeads and a mooted ban on single-use straws.
The Department for Environment said consultation on the recycling scheme would have to follow the Treasury’s call for evidence on taxes and charges to reduce waste – so that “all relevant findings can be fed into the proposals”.
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