MPs urge ministers to back ‘all in’ recycling return scheme
Some 20 MPs have urged the environment minister to back a scheme that would see Brits charged extra for purchasing drinks in single-use containers, redeemable upon recycling.
Cross-party MPs urged George Eustice to “introduce the most ambitious scheme possible,” pointing to successful Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) across the globe.
A scheme to encourage consumers to recycle more would “take a step towards realising the country’s net zero targets, and achieve a truly circular economy,” the MPs said.
In a letter to the minister, MPs urged the government to include “as many materials as possible, including cartons,” to ensure the proposed scheme was successful.
It comes after ministers have suggested a scheme would focus on on-the-go products, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and cans.
However, MPs urged the government to go further with an ‘all-in’ model and said cartons were included in schemes in Australia and Canada, as well as trials in Serbia and Sweden.
This would “improve consumer engagement,” as the scheme would be more closely aligned with current household recycling, MPs added.
It follows research from the maker of Lucozade and Ribena that found it takes seven weeks for most shoppers to rethink their relationship with plastic bottles (88 per cent).
A study of almost 8,000 Brits involved some shoppers being asked to pay more for soft drinks and return items for a fee, reflective of the 20p per item in Scotland cost.
“These systems work brilliantly abroad. We need them to be as simple and similar as possible across the UK to avoid complexity and confusion for retailers and shoppers, so they have every chance of succeeding,” Keith Allen, Suntory director for commercial sustainability in the UK and Ireland said.
Retailers wanted a DRS that was “simple and easy” for consumers to use, Nadiya Catel-Arutyunova, sustainability policy advisor for the British Retail Consortium, told CityA.M.
She added: “That’s why retailers support a well-designed scheme which captures metal and plastic containers, simplifying the scheme to avoid confusion, complexity, and unnecessary costs. By focusing on the right materials, we can improve recycling.”