UPDATE 27 March 2018: Surfers Against Sewage is thrilled that the government has committed to introduce a comprehensive deposit return scheme on drinks containers in England in the bid to end plastic pollution, reduce littering and create a more sustainable, circular economy. This huge victory for the environment comes in the wake of concerted campaigning from the beachfront to Parliamentary front benches, calling for a deposit return scheme to end the environmental scourge of plastic bottles, one of the flagship plastic pollution offenders on our rivers, streets, countryside and coastline.
About the campaign:
In the UK we use a staggering 38.5 million single-use plastic bottles every day. Only half of these are recycled, so it’s no surprise that many of these end up on our beaches and in our oceans.
Our Message In a Bottle petition called for the introduction of a comprehensive UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) on plastic bottles and other single use drinks containers.
Deposit return schemes are tried and tested. Introducing a small economic incentive (10-20p deposit) is an incredibly effective way of ensuring consumers leave their single-use plastic bottles and drinks containers in the recycling economy rather than the environment.
Your support made this campaign a great success!
2017 saw the Scottish Parliament back deposit return. SAS also led a delegation of cross-party MPs and charities to deliver 270,000 signatures from the petition to the Prime Minister. With more than 300,000 signatures, your support has made this the UK’s largest petition calling for the introduction of deposit return schemes!
SAS also gave evidence on a UK-wide scheme to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in the Houses of Parliament. In December 2017 the EAC published its report ‘Plastic bottles: Turning Back the Plastic Tide’ recommending that the ‘Government introduces a legislated Deposit Return Scheme for all PET plastic drinks bottles’. This was a fantastic result for our campaign!
But there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure that England does not get left behind. We must continue to challenge the government to create the best possible system covering all plastic, glass and metal single-use drinks containers.
You can still show your support by signing the Message In A Bottle petition!
