England to introduce bottle deposit scheme

All plastic, glass or metal drinks containers in England are to become the subject of a new returnable deposit scheme in a bid to reduce pollution and encourage recycling.

Full details of the scheme, including the cost of the deposit and the funding of the return process, have yet to be revealed, but prices of similar schemes across Europe range from 8p in Sweden to 22p in Germany.

It is hoped the move will have a similar impact to the introduction of charges for single use plastic bags in the United Kingdom in 2015, which have contributed to an 83 percent reduction in their use.