The Environmental Audit Committee plans to relaunch its predecessor's inquiry into coffee cups and plastic bottles, which was brought to an end before it could report due to the General Election. The previous inquiry received over one hundred submissions of evidence.
The inquiry will look at whether charges or taxes should be introduced on single-use plastic bottles and coffee cups in order to reduce their contribution to litter. There will also be a focus on other solutions to the problems caused by plastic waste, including using different materials, improving recycling methods and establishing deposit schemes for returning plastic bottles. MPs will also examine the likely impacts of leaving the EU on efforts to reduce plastic waste.
Greenpeace, who campaign to reduce plastic waste and have called for a deposit scheme, welcomed the news of the inquiry. Louisa Casson from Greenpeace UK said: "Plastic pollution is a huge and growing issue that we simply can’t dawdle on – and deposit return schemes are a great way of reducing the plastic waste ending up on our streets, beaches and in the sea."
The Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that Scotland will introduce a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, although the design of the scheme has yet to be finalised. A petition with more than a quarter of a million signatures calling for a deposit scheme has put pressure on Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to introduce a similar scheme in England and Wales.
Around 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away in the UK every year, of which less than one in four hundred are recycled, as the waterproof coating used on the cups makes both composting and recycling uncommon. Only 57% of all plastic bottles are recycled in the UK, compared to countries such as Germany where there are deposit schemes in place and around 90% of bottles are recycled.
Evidence submitted to the previous inquiry does not need to be resubmitted. The Environmental Audit Committee will be accepting written submissions from those who did not submit earlier in the year, or who wish to update their evidence, until 29 September 2017.
