England to introduce plastic bottle Deposit Return Scheme

The Government announced on Friday it intends to launch a new deposit scheme that makes recycling plastic bottles and drink cans a lot easier for everyone in England.

The Deposit Return Scheme will make use of special machines that are known as reverse vending machines, where people can return their bottles and receive cash back for doing so. The announcement of this scheme comes imminently after the Government announced it is to enforce a ban on single-use plastic items such as cutlery, plates and trays earlier this month.

Every year UK consumers go through an estimated around 14 billion plastic drinks bottles and nine billion drinks cans, many of which are littered or condemned to landfill.

The new scheme, covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is set to be introduced in 2025, following extensive work with industry to prepare for the necessary changes – including setting up infrastructure and amending labelling. It aims to ensure 85% fewer drinks containers are discarded as litter after three years of its launch.

Set to begin in August this year, Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme means that consumers will pay a 20p deposit on any drink that comes in a single-use container that’s made of PET plastic, steel and aluminium, or glass. Once they return the empy container to a return point, they will earn their deposit back.

International examples show that a deposit return scheme can become a simple part of daily life to make recycling easier, with recycling rates above 90% in Germany, Finland and Norway. Current recycling rates for drinks containers in the UK sit at around 70%.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

“We want to support people who want to do the right thing to help stop damaging plastics polluting our green spaces or floating in our oceans and rivers. That is why we are moving ahead using our powers from our landmark Environment Act to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers.

This provides a simple and effective system across the country that helps people reduce litter and recycle more easily.”

Read the full announcement on the Government website here. You can keep up to date with relevant industry news and updates here.