The Environmental Audit Committee has also called on the government to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for plastic drinks bottles.
The Committee says that plastic bottles are an easily avoidable source of marine plastic pollution and has now demanded that the government takes action.
It is calling on the government to adopt a producer responsibility compliance fee structure that rewards design for recyclability and raises charges on packaging that is difficult to recycle.
Additionally, the Committee is urging the government to phase in a mandated minimum 50% recycled plastic content in plastic bottles to stimulate and underwrite the recycled plastics market, and to ensure that the industry has an incentive to reuse plastics. This target should be reached by 2023 at the latest, it adds.
Mary Creagh, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, says: "Packaging producers don’t currently have to bear the full financial burden of recycling their packaging. By reforming producer responsibility charges, the government can ensure that producers and retailers will have financial incentives to design packaging that is easily recyclable, or face higher compliance costs."
In relation to a Deposit Return Scheme, the committee says that the UK's rate of recycling for plastic bottles has stalled for the past 5 years.
As the consumption of on-the-go soft drinks and water increases, the UK “urgently” needs a system to capture these bottles before they are littered or landfilled.
Creagh adds: “Around 700,000 plastic bottles are littered in the UK every day. The introduction of a small charge to encourage the return of plastic bottles will result in less littering, more recycling and reduction in the impact of plastic packaging on our natural environment.”
Additional calls to government include a requirement for all public premises that serve food and drink to provide free drinking water and an increase in the number of public water fountains.
Creagh says: “Urgent action is needed to protect our environment from the devastating effects of marine plastic pollution which, if it continues to rise at current rates, will outweigh fish by 2050. Our throwaway society uses 13 billion plastic bottles each year, around half of which are not recycled. Plastic bottles make up a third of all plastic pollution in the sea, and are a growing litter problem on UK beaches. We need action at individual, council, regional and national levels to turn back the plastic tide.”
IMAGE CREDIT: Gracey on Morguefile.com
