Bottle deposit scheme that pays you to recycle could prevent 6,600 tonnes of plastic ending up in the UK’s rivers by 2030, charity report claims
- The scheme could stop 6,600 tons of plastic rubbish polluting English seas
- A report by charity Common Seas analysed the impact of a deposit scheme
- This could stop thousands of tons of waste polluting rivers and seas by 2030
- But the charity say that further action will need to be taken to reduce plastic pollution from sources including tyre dust and plastic from manufacturing
A deposit return scheme in England could stop 6,600 tons of plastic rubbish polluting our seas and rivers by 2030, according to research.
The report by charity Common Seas analysed the impact of a deposit scheme.
It found a deposit return scheme applied to all drink containers, not just small bottles less than 750ml would have most impact.
The Daily Mail has long campaigned against plastic pollution and successfully led calls for a charge on plastic bags, which has dramatically reduced the number which end up in landfill.
The form of the deposit return scheme has not been decided – but is a key measure in the government’s strategy to reduce plastic pollution.
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A deposit return scheme in England could stop 6,600 tons of plastic rubbish polluting our seas and rivers by 2030, according to research. The report by charity Common Seas analysed the impact of a deposit scheme
The Common Seas report said: ‘The deposit should be set at a high enough level to stimulate behaviour – eg 20p was proposed in Scotland – and the return infrastructure should be made convenient so as to incentivise a high rate of return.’
The report warns that further action will need to be taken to reduce plastic pollution from sources including tyre dust, plastic ‘nurdles’ from manufacturing and microfibers from laundry and wet wipes.
Tyre dust contributes 14,000 tons of plastic to the sea – but the government’s strategy does not tackle these sources.
‘The impact of the strategy is zero or small for both tyre dust and plastic pellets,’ the report said.
‘This small impact is driven significantly by the challenges in preventing the flows of microplastic pollution into the watercourse.
‘Microplastics, such as those generated from the wear of tyres and textiles are emitted in high volumes and their small size makes them hard to manage… there are currently no alternatives that would eliminate tyre dust… other than through modal shifts and reduced use of transport.’ Jo Royle, from Common Seas, told the Guardian.
‘We must make sure our energy is focused on the most impactful interventions. We don’t have time to be ineffective – the crisis we’re facing gets worse every day.
‘Our initiative… tackles this problem by helping the right people make better decisions about which policies to implement for maximum impact.’
Defra said it had commissioned further research to examine how marine pollution from tyre dust, synthetic materials such as polyester, and fishing gear enters our waterways and oceans.
‘We have made great strides to tackle plastic pollution in our oceans, introducing one of the toughest bans on microbeads in the world,’ Defra said.
‘We will consider this report carefully as we look at how we can address different forms of microplastics, including particles from tyres.
This is alongside ambitious plans to ban plastic straws, drink stirrers, and plastic stemmed cotton buds and tackle plastic bottle waste.’
HOW DO MICROPLASTICS GET INTO THE OCEANS FROM RIVERS?
Urban flooding is causing microplastics to be flushed into our oceans even faster than thought, according to scientists looking at pollution in rivers.
Waterways in Greater Manchester are now so heavily contaminated by microplastics that particles are found in every sample – including even the smallest streams.
This pollution is a major contributor to contamination in the oceans, researchers found as part of the first detailed catchment-wide study anywhere in the world.
This debris – including microbeads and microfibres – are toxic to ecosystems.
Scientists tested 40 sites around Manchester and found every waterway contained these small toxic particles.
Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic debris including microbeads, microfibres and plastic fragments.
It has long been known they enter river systems from multiple sources including industrial effluent, storm water drains and domestic wastewater.
However, although around 90 per cent of microplastic contamination in the oceans is thought to originate from land, not much is known about their movements.
Most rivers examined had around 517,000 plastic particles per square metre, according to researchers from the University of Manchester who carried out the detailed study.
Following a period of major flooding, the researchers re-sampled at all of the sites.
They found levels of contamination had fallen at the majority of them, and the flooding had removed about 70 per cent of the microplastics stored on the river beds.
This demonstrates that flood events can transfer large quantities of microplastics from urban river to the oceans.
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