“Five years of wasted action on plastic waste” – Greenpeace responds to deposit return scheme announcement

Several years since then Environment Secretary Michael Gove promised to deliver a deposit return scheme to tackle pollution, the Government has signalled that a scheme is ‘a step closer’, though it won’t include glass drinks containers.

Commenting, Megan Randles, political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

“Five years ago, Greenpeace was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with campaigning groups across the country calling for a deposit return scheme. Five years of wasted action on plastic waste. Five years of dithering and pollution. Five years of lobbying and watering down. This could have been a moment for celebration, and of course for our environment it’s better to have this proposed system rather than nothing. But even at the final hurdle, this Government bottled it and excluded glass from the scheme.

“In what kind of world is collecting glass drinks containers not an essential part of a system designed to collect drinks containers? To be honest it reeks of corporate lobbying – from the kind of companies who talk big on social responsibility, but do everything they can to push the problems they create onto others. If we’re serious about leaving a better natural environment for future generations, kicking the can down the road just doesn’t cut it.”