Mel Stride MP is backing the introduction of a national plastic bottle deposit return scheme for single-use bottles and cans. The announcement today from Environment Secretary Michael Gove will increase items by up to 20p but customers would get their money back when they return the container. Having campaigned on this issue for some time alongside Environmental Services Portfolio Holder at Teignbridge District Council Kevin Lake (pictured in Exminster in 2017), Mr Stride said he was “delighted” with the move.
Mr Gove explained:
“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 oceans.”
Mel, who raised the issue with the Secretary of State during a visit to Central Devon last year, added:
“It is estimated that 3 billion of the 13 billion plastic drink bottles bought each year in the UK are not recycled. While local councils are doing everything they can to make it easy to recycle plastics, a bigger step needs to be taken if we’re to tackle this problem. Evidence from return schemes in countries like Norway show they are extremely effective and we have seen in the UK that the 5p levy on plastic bags has cut consumption of single-use carrier bags by 83%.”
Teignbridge has seen a significant rise in plastic recycling since the council introduced weekly kerbside plastic collections in 2015.
