MPs recommend deposit return for plastic bottles in England and Wales

MP’s on the Government’s Environmental Audit Committee have recommended drinks companies start paying extra to manufacture bottles, to encourage their recycling.

The committee has given its backing to a ‘Deposit Return Scheme’, commonly known in European countries as the ‘pfand’, where empty bottles can be recycled at supermarkets for a refund on the bottle.

The environment secretary Michael Gove has called for evidence in a consulation starting in 2018 on the plastic bottle DRS.

Over 13 billion plastic bottles are used each year by consumers in the UK, but only 7.5 billion are recycled.

Last month campaigners at Greenpeace secured backing for the deposit return from supermarket chains Iceland and Co-op Food, its campaigner Louise Edge said: “It’s brilliant to see Iceland and the Co-op coming out in favour of deposit return schemes – one of the tried and tested solutions needed to end the ocean plastic pollution crisis.”

Mary Creagh, Labour MP for Wakefield and Chair of the environmental audit committee, said: “Urgent action is needed to protect our environment from the devastating effects of marine plastic pollution, which if it continues to rise at current rates, will outweigh fish by 2050.

“Plastic bottles make up a third of all plastic pollution in the sea and are a growing litter problem on UK beaches. We need action at individual, council, regional and national levels to turn back the plastic tide.”

The EAC also lent weight to encouraging a culture change for consumers refilling bottles in cafes and bars, plus a wider availability of public drinking fountains.