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Dear Layla Moran,
In 2018 the DEFRA Secretary committed to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England and to work with the Devolved Administrations to introduce schemes across the UK. After three years of waiting the government have now delayed until 2024, at the earliest.
Since this commitment, 24 billion containers of all sizes and materials have ended up polluting the environment. This could have been prevented if we had an effective ‘all-in’ DRS. If we have to wait until 2024 this will grow to 56 billion containers.
Surfers Against Sewage also found 58% of bottles on UK beaches would not be included in an ‘on-the-go’ scheme, and the government’s impact assessment found the net benefit of an ‘all-in’ system would be £5.8bn compared to just £282m for an ‘on-the-go’ system.
That’s why I’m calling on you as my MP to support the introduction of an ‘all-in’ DRS as soon as possible which will;
For every year we delay further another 8 billion containers will be lost to the environment.
Kind Regards
XXXXX
[Add your address here]
The Scottish Government are leading the way on DRS and an ‘all-in’ system will be introduced in Scotland from 1st July 2022. England, Wales and Northern Ireland however are well behind so share this action with a friend across the border and help get the whole of the UK up to speed.
In the UK, we are using 38.5 million plastic bottles every single day and we struggle to recycle even half of those.
In 2017, over 300,000 of you signed a petition calling the Prime Minister to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The government listened and in 2018 made a commitment to put in place a DRS for England and to work with the Devolved Administrations to introduce schemes across the UK to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. After three years of dither the government have now delayed the introduction of DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland until 2024, at the earliest.
Every year since the government’s commitment, 8 billion containers including plastic bottles, metal cans and drink cartons have ended up polluting the environment, that’s 32 Billion containers. (Reloop) By 2024 that will a mean a massive 56 Billion containers choking the planet. This can be prevented though if the government deliver on their promise of an effective all-in Deposit Return Scheme.
We want an effective ‘all-in’ Deposit Return Scheme that delivers the best outcome for the environment to be put in place now, not later.
Our 2018 extensive Bottle Monitoring research project found that 58% of bottles found on UK beaches would be excluded from an ‘on-the-go’ DRS.
And the governments own impact assessment found the net benefit of an all-in scheme would be £5.8bn, compared to just £282m for an ‘on-the-go’ scheme.
That’s why we need an all-in Deposit Return Scheme that takes drinks containers of all sizes and as many different materials as possible.
Imagine it this way – you’re buying the contents, but renting the container.
Remember milkmen? That’s the idea, with plastic, glass and metal drinks containers. So, you buy your usual fizzy drink and it’s 20p more expensive than it was before, but when you take the bottle back to the retailer and post it into the ‘reverse vending machine’ aka. the Deposit Return Scheme, you’ll get your deposit back.
Deposit Return Schemes have been proven to work across Europe. In fact, in Norway they manage to capture 97% of their single-use plastic bottles through an all-in DRS!!!! This means high-quality plastic material is kept in ‘the loop’ which is much easier to recycle into different products, so less new plastic bottles need to be created. Win-win!