Less talk, more action

At the end of March, the UK Government announced plans to introduce a bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) on plastic, aluminium and glass in England.

UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who has said he was “haunted” by images of the damage done to the world’s oceans shown in David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II TV series, said: “We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking havoc on our marine environment – killing dolphins, choking turtles and degrading our most precious habitats

“It is absolutely vital we act now to tackle this threat and curb the millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled.

“We have already banned harmful microbeads and cut plastic bag use, and now we want to take action on plastic bottles to help clean up our oceans.”

However, while Gove was making all the right noises, the plans are only at consultation stage and won’t come into force until 2020.

Gove’s epiphany on the dangers of plastics has been widely welcomed, however, compared to other parts of the world, the UK Government is playing catch up.

Similar deposit return schemes are currently operating in several countries, and Scotland announced last year that it would introduce one, which is being designed by Zero Waste Scotland. The move was announced alongside the establishment of an expert panel to consider fiscal and other measures to reduce waste, for example, a levy on single-use cups.

Denmark, Sweden and Germany operate schemes which see consumers pay an up-front deposit when they buy a drink, from 8p in Sweden to 22p in Germany, which is redeemed on return of the empty drink container. Variants of a DRS include cash rewards for returning drinks containers without an upfront deposit.

This is often done through a network of ‘reverse vending machines’, where you insert your plastic or glass bottle or can and the machine returns your money. 

Once a bottle is returned, businesses are then responsible for making sure they are effectively recycled – a move that has led to a 97 per cent recycling rate in Germany.

Responding to Gove’s announcement, Scotland’s Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “I am proud that Scotland was the first part of the UK to commit to introduce a deposit return scheme and pleased to learn the UK Government will now follow our lead.

“We have ambitious plans and wish to work closely with the UK Government to ensure that communities north and south of the border reap the environmental benefits a deposit return scheme can deliver.

“I also want to pay tribute to the efforts of the many community groups which have campaigned tirelessly for such a scheme – their valuable work deserves to be acknowledged.”

The sense of self-congratulation in Cunningham’s quotes is palpable and yet, while Scotland’s scheme is further ahead than the rest of the UK, it still hasn’t been introduced.

Catherine Gemmell, Scotland Conservation Officer at the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), believes DRS is the next step in a wider journey towards cleaning up the world’s oceans.

Speaking to Holyrood in February, she said: “For us it’s about all single-use plastic items, so it’s great the expert panel will look at straws, cutlery, trays, cups – looking at everything and at what incentives could be used to reduce the amount being used, which should then reduce the amount being made in the first place. It could, hopefully, generate a similar effect to the success of the 5p carrier bag charge, with an 80 per cent fall at the point of sale, then for our beach clean volunteers to see a 40 per cent fall on beaches, once the rest of the UK caught up, was fantastic.”

The next step, for MCS, is to introduce levies on other single-use plastic items through its ‘Stop the Plastic Tide’ campaign.

In a similar vein, at the start of 2018, the Scottish Government said it would legislate to ban the sale of plastic cotton buds, making Scotland the first country in the UK to do so.

by Liam Kirkaldy

Communities, Housing & Planning

Local community should decide future of Hunterston nuclear plant, says Ross Greer

Around five to ten per cent of marine debris surveyed in European seas is thought to be caused by cotton buds, according to research carried out by the European Commission, while a recent report from MCS found that Scottish beach litter had increased seven per cent in the last year, with sewage-related debris up by 40 per cent.

Consultation on the plans opened last week and Cunningham said the Scottish Government is showing “its environmental leadership”. 

She added: “Protecting our seas and oceans from the blight of plastic pollution is of great importance and we recognise the need to take action when the health of our marine environment is threatened.  

“I would encourage any organisation or individual with an interest in safeguarding our marine environment to respond to this consultation which outlines the issue and asks if the proposal is supported as well as considers any commercial implications.

“This proposal is part of a range of Scottish Government measures to help tackle the scourge of plastics polluting our marine environment and littering our streets. In addition to our national litter and marine litter strategies, we are introducing a deposit return scheme to recycle more drinks containers, committing £500,000 to help address marine litter sinks and establishing an expert panel to advise us on our work to reduce our reliance on single-use items.”

The Scottish public is also firmly behind plans to reduce single-use items. 

A campaign led by MSP Kate Forbes to ban plastic drinking straws received wide backing and Ullapool recently became the first village in the UK to halt the use of straws in all bars, restaurants and cafés following a campaign by local schoolchildren.

Not to be outdone, the UK Government then announced that it too was considering a ban on plastic straws and cotton buds in England.

Theresa May urged leaders at the Commonwealth heads of government to follow the UK’s lead in tackling the problem, claiming the UK was a “world leader” on tackling plastic waste, highlighting the charges that have been introduced for plastic bags, the ban on microbeads and the DRS consultation.

However, while this news was again welcomed, ultimately, it is yet another consultation rather than action. 

In fact, the number of consultations associated with this subject, both north and south of the border, is bewildering and the constant to-ing and fro-ing, announcement and counter announcement on this matter from the UK Government smacks strongly of politicking.

Understandably, governments want to ensure all stakeholders are on board with their plans before implementing new laws but while they consult, yet more plastic is piling up.

Looking further afield, some are taking a stronger approach.

For the past year, Kenya has adopted a radical policy where it comes to plastic bags. There are fines if you use them and if business people are caught making or importing them, they face as much as a four-year jail sentence.

Kenyan authorities have said the policy is already a success and other African nations such as Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan are considering following suit.

If the world is waging war on plastic, Kenya is among those countries leading the charge, while the UK is bringing up the rear.

Many will remember being told in the 1980s and ‘90s to cut up plastic can rings to help prevent sea animals getting caught in them and today we know so much more about the dangers plastics pose.

Consultations are all fine and good but what we really need is positive action, and soon.

It’s going to take more than talk to tackle these issues and with public opinion firmly behind a ban on single-use plastic items such as plastic straws, now is the time to act.