The supermarkets, retailers and beverage producers should be forced to pay more for the recycling of plastic packaging of goods they sell. This is stated in a report by the British Parliamentary Commission on Environmental Audit.
The government request is an attempt to reduce the amount of plastic bottles of water and to encourage culture for the use of reusable bottles. The idea is that they can be filled with tap water from restaurants, cafes, sports centers and fast food chains. According to the authors of the proposal, this will reduce the use of plastic water bottles by 65%.
Currently, 13 billion plastic bottles are being used in the UK, but just over half of them (7.5 billion) are recycled.
The report highlights the need for government intervention to tackle the UK’s plastic junk problem and calls for higher business taxes to help clean up the garbage that companies create. According to the MPs, the introduction of a national roll-out reward program is one of the key elements for reducing this type of waste in the country. Such a scheme could help to increase recycling to 90% in the country.
Such a program could be part of the new measures that will be announced by Environment Minister Michael Gove next year.
In the words of Commission President, if ocean pollution continues at the same rate, by 2050 the volume of plastic in them will be larger than all fish put together.
Among the other proposals of the new law is an increase in packaging charges, which are difficult to recycle and accordingly reduce them for those that can be processed. It is also proposed to introduce a minimum of 50% for the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate in all new plastic bottles by 2023.
The report also suggests that the money collected under the new scheme be invested in the construction of processing plants, which will reduce the amount of about 320,000 tonnes of plastic each year exported. According to the text over the last 15 years, the consumption of bottled water in the UK has doubled.
Related Topics