The government is set to announce the start of England’s long-awaited deposit return scheme (DRS) for plastic bottles today (20 January).
According to reporting by The Guardian, it is understood that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be making an announcement to put the DRS into action in 2024, six years after it was initially promised.
However, while the DRS was originally meant to include both plastic and glass bottles, The Grocer reported earlier this week that glass will now be excluded.
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The scheme, which involves consumers receiving a small cash fee for any bottles returned to one of the designated return points, looks to cut litter pollution in England.
However, despite this having been campaigned for since Michael Gove first announced it in 2018, environmentalists City to Sea claim that “in the face of the overlapping plastic and climate crisis we simply can’t afford such reckless dillydallying.”
Its policy manager, Steve Hynd said “there is a pattern emerging in this government’s approach of delays, half-measures, and broken promises.”
In resonse to the exclusion of glass within the scheme, he added that “we need an “all in” deposit return scheme that will incentivise refill and reuse over recycling. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking. Other countries already have this.”
“We cannot recycle our way out of the environmental crisis we face, we need a wholesale shift to reuse and refill and a DRS fit for purpose could and should be a key tool to helping us achieve that.”
Greenpeace UK political campaigner, Megan Randles commented: “Five years ago, Greenpeace was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with campaigning groups across the country calling for a deposit return scheme. Five years of wasted action on plastic waste. Five years of dithering and pollution. Five years of lobbying and watering down.”
She said that at the final hurdle, “the government bottled it and excluded glass from the scheme,” adding that “kicking the can down the road just doesn’t cut it.”
Campaigners Surfers Against Sewage told The Guardian: “Whilst we should celebrate action being taken against the scourge of plastic pollution, this much delayed announcement on DRS appears a huge missed opportunity.
“The government has rolled back on its 2019 manifesto commitment to include glass, one of the most environmentally damaging materials. This is frankly nonsensical and puts England at odds with systems being introduced in Scotland and Wales, hindering UK-wide compatibility.”
