Consumers in England will soon be participating in a deposit scheme for drinks bottles and cans in an effort to boost recycling.
Deposit scheme
Like similar schemes in operation in Europe, the deposit system will increase the cost of these products but consumers will make their added expenditure back when the packaging is returned to be sorted and re-purposed.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove 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 ocean."
This may be a divisive move for the British plastics industry, where opinion is yet divided over the effectiveness of deposit schemes when considering the wider recycled plastics market.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Breakfast programme, Barry Turner, Plastics and Flexible Packaging Group Director at the British Plastics Federation, said there should be no risk of undermining the country's kerbside schemes "in any way", which could have "adverse affects".
He added systems need to be in place to prevent fraud within a deposit scheme, noting that the country should be looking at the way we look at recycling and that more "consistent messaging" is needed.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is in favour of the introduction of deposit schemes, as it believes it will boost recycling rates and prevent litter from leaching into the environment.
"This is a brilliant and significant decision by Michael Gove," said Samantha Harding, Liter Programme Director at CPRE. "I am thrilled that we will finally see the many benefits a deposit system will bring to England, not least the absence of ugly drinks containers in our beautiful countryside."
Author and former CPRE President Bill Bryson added: "I wholeheartedly congratulate Michael Gove for his wisdom in finally accepting the case for a deposit return system in the UK - I never thought I would see this in my lifetime."
There is the issue that deposit schemes could take the valuable PET, aluminium and other readily-recycled materials out of kerbside collections, making municipal recycling less profitable and therefore putting the future of municipal recycling in danger.
Executive Manager of Belgian non-profit plastic recycling thinktank Plarebel and European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO) board member Ann Vossen told European Plastic Product Manufacturer that she is reluctant to champion deposit schemes as an incentive for recycling, as it "distorts value".
Nevertheless, deposit schemes are widely considered to be a good consumer incentive.
Stéphane Arditi from the European Environmental Bureau said at a recent Petcore Europe event: "If you want to put responsibility on the consumers, you have to raise awareness by touching their wallets and consider a deposit system."
In the UK, some 13 billion plastic bottles are purchased each year, and three billion of these are not recycled.
While Wales is considering a deposit scheme, Scotland has already announced plans to introduce a deposit scheme of its own.