Environment Secretary Michael Gove has issued a call for evidence on how a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers could work in England.
To improve the amount of plastic finding its way into the world’s oceans and to increase recycling, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has asked organisations and individuals to share their views with the government on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of reward and return schemes for plastic, metal and glass drinks containers that could help reduce the number of bottles entering our waterways.
Michael Gove – “This approach has already seen great success in other countries such as Denmark in curbing plastic pollution and we want to hear people’s ideas on how we could make it work in England.”
The call for evidence opens for four weeks and ministers have asked the Voluntary and Economic Incentives Working Group, set up as part of the Litter Strategy, to accelerate its work and report back early in the New Year.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “We must protect our oceans and marine life from plastic waste if we are to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it.
“That means tackling the rise in plastic bottles entering our waters by making it simpler and easier to recycle and dispose of them appropriately.
“Today we are launching a call for evidence to help us understand how reward and return schemes for plastic bottles and other drinks containers could work in England.
“This approach has already seen great success in other countries such as Denmark in curbing plastic pollution and we want to hear people’s ideas on how we could make it work in England.”
The evidence submitted will be examined by the government’s working group which includes brand and retail giants such as Coca Cola and Tesco.
The news follows the recent announcement that the Scottish Government has committed to implementing a DRS for drinks packaging.
More than 8m tonnes of plastic are discarded into the world’s oceans each year, putting marine wildlife under serious threat.
Up to 80% of this is estimated to have been originally lost or discarded on land before washing out to sea, and plastic bottles are a particular concern – with figures showing just 57% of those sold in the UK in 2016 collected for recycling.
This compares to a record 90% of deposit-marked cans and bottles that were returned to dedicated recycling facilities in Denmark, and a return rate of almost 80% of beverage containers in South Australia, both of which have a form of deposit return scheme.
