Take Back That Empty Plastic Bottle. Collect Cash.
From 2025, consumers who return their empty drinks bottles and cans in England will be able to recoup some of their money.
Finished with that soft drink? From 2025, consumers in England will be able to claim some of their money back if they return the empty plastic bottle or can for recycling.
The deposit return scheme, as it’s known, aims to reduce littering of drinks containers by 85% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland three years after launch.
Similar programs have been in operation for decades in countries including Norway and Sweden, where they’ve helped to boost recycling and cut waste. In Norway, the recycling rate for plastic bottles is 97%. In the US, “bottle bills” in several states including California and Iowa make comparable provisions, offering refunds of between 5 and 15 cents. A return scheme goes into effect in Scotland as soon as August.
Bottle return programs work by adding a small fee, usually a few cents, to the cost of canned and bottled drinks, which can be recouped by consumers when they return the container at reverse vending machines and special return points operated by drinks companies or sellers. Deposit programs were in place for glass bottles in many parts of the world before soft drink manufacturers switched to cheaper, lighter, less breakable plastic. But that convenience has come at a terrible cost to the environment.
If current production stays on track, yearly plastic production could reach 1.1 billion metric tons by 2050. Made from fossil fuels, plastic manufacturing adds to the greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet — and to a global waste problem. Because plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it piles up in landfill, clogs rivers or gets swept out to sea, where it endangers marine life and gets into food systems. Governments are under increasing pressure to take action.
“This will provide a simple and effective system across the country that helps people reduce litter and recycle more easily, even when on the move,” Rebecca Pow, the environment minister, said in a statement.
The return scheme has support from the recycling and drinks bottles industries but environmental groups have criticized the government for excluding glass containers in some locations and for the time it’s taking to get the system started. The policy was first announced in 2018.