Dear Conservative Party Manifesto Team,

As the General Election falls on World Oceans Day, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is urging the Conservative Party to include a manifesto commitment to introduce a deposit return system1to help drastically reduce the alarming levels of plastic bottle and packaging pollution in our cities, countryside and on our beaches.

Marine plastic pollution is now impacting our countryside, coastlines and oceans on a global scale and, despite the significant efforts of community volunteers2 and current waste and recycling systems, the flow of plastic into our seas continues to increase with an estimated 8-12 million tonnes entering the marine environment annually3. Every day 16 million bottles go to landfill or are litteredin the UK4, with surveys finding over 160 plastic bottles found on every mile of UK beach5.

There is now growing consensus that new waste management and recycling systems are required to stop valuable plastic escaping into the environment. A deposit return system is the natural successor to the popular and effective 5p carrier bag charge6. A small, refundable deposit on single-use plastic and glass bottles and metal cans would:

  • Reduce litter levels across our beaches, parks and streets by 40%7
  • Dramatically increase recycling8 & create net increase of 4,000 jobs9
  • Deliver significant savings to local authorities10 & the hospitality industry11
  • Reduce our climate emissions12

The system would be self-funded through the small proportion of unclaimed deposits13.

The momentum behind introducing deposit return systems has never been stronger. During 2017 plastic pollution and deposit return systems have received strong and consistent support from influential media outlets including The Daily Mail14, The Guardian15 and Sky News16.

Litter is a big issue for communities and the potential introduction of innovative solutions including deposit return systems are popular with the public. Surfers Against Sewage’s petition calling for a UK-wide deposit return system has received over225,000signatures17. Various polls have shown the public is supportive of deposit return systems18. There are 300 million people living with successful deposit return systems throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia with many countries boasting collection rates of plastic bottles and cans reaching almost 100%19.

2017 has been a breakthrough year for industry supporting deposit return systems with Coca Cola20, waste management & recycling leaders Suez21 and The Federation of Independent Retailers22 (NFRN) all issuing statements calling for deposit return systems in the UK.

A Conservative manifesto commitment could be: Following the successful introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge, we will bring in a deposit return system for single use plastic, glass and aluminium and steel containers to reduce litter, boost recycling and to contribute to climate change targets.

If the Conservative Party would like more detail on deposit return systems or interested in further commitments to deliver plastic free coastlines I would be happy to discuss these with you.

Yours faithfully

Hugo Tagholm

Surfers Against Sewage Chief Executive

References:

  1. Deposit Return Scheme Impacts on Loacal Authority – Interim Results Summary, Eunomia for Surfers Against Sewage, Keep Britian Tidy and Partners, 2017
  2. Deposit Systems For One-Way Beverage Containers: Global Overview 2016, Reloop