Deposit and Return Scheme - Message in a Bottle

Dorset Litter Free, and many local groups around the County, have - during the last three years - contributed data about the number of bottles and cans that they have collected during litter drives, to evidence gathered by CPRE at national level.  This evidence is being used by CPRE to support a campaign to persuade the government to introduce a deposit and return scheme (DRS) for bottles and other containers.
On 19 June, Boris Johnson’s birthday CPRE delivered to 10 Downing Street a symbolic bottle containing the following message from 32,908 people calling for the introduction of a national DRS by 2023. 
 
“The country is ready and waiting to see a bottle return scheme of the sort already common in many other countries running here to cut plastic waste.  Many of us remember returning milk bottles when we were younger.  We call for the same system, where customers pay a small deposit which is refunded when the bottle is given back for reuse.

“The government originally committed to making a DRS happen in England back in 2018 – and we’re still waiting.  We’re tired of waiting for the government to make good on this announcement and fear that the recent consultation was a way for them to kick the can down the road and appease industry lobbyists.

“We want action on an all-in DRS, meaning that containers of all sizes and materials would be included.  Other countries that have this see sky-high recycling rates : in Germany, for example, people waste (discard or litter) an average of just over 21 containers a year, whereas in the UK we each waste 126 !
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“We won’t stand by and let the government keep delaying this crucial litter-busting scheme.  We’ll be keeping up the pressure on them to dramatically cut plastic waste by making an all-in scheme happen by 2023.”