BRITS are set to get up to 20p back when they recycle their old cans and bottles under a landmark new green scheme, The Sun can reveal.
In a huge win for our Show Some Bottle campaign, ministers will today announce the new deposit return scheme will come into law by 2025.
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Millions will be encouraged to get cash back every time they use reverse vending machines to stop their recycling ending up being burned in landfill or chucked away.
Ministers hope it will take millions of bits of rubbish out of Britain’s lakes, rivers and beaches and clean up our environment.
Consumers will get a cash reward as a sweetener to help encourage them to recycle more – with ministers aiming to reach an 85 per cent recycling rate within three years.
A new quango called the Deposit Management Organisation will decide the final level of the cashback Brits will receive.
Nearly two in three respondents to the consultation backed the move to set the fee at 20p.
But it’s possible that bigger bottles will get a higher cashback.
It will apply to single-use plastic and can containers, but will not include glass, which was seen as too heavy – and milk bottles which are already widely recycled.
The programme will go live in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 2025, but a similar scheme is set to come into force in Scotland this summer.
Germany, Finland and Norway have similar schemes in place already – where they succeed in recycling up to 90 per cent of their waste.
Brits get through an average of 14 billion plastic drinks bottles and nine billion drinks cans – many of which are littered or condemned to landfill, the Department for Environment say.
And only 70 per cent of that gets put in the recycling bin.
83 per cent of respondents were in favour of the new system, they added.
It comes after ministers announced last week they would ban single-use plastic plates, cutlery and some cups in a bid to tackle waste.
Last night Coca-Cola’s VP of operations in Great Britain and Ireland welcomed the news and backed the plan.
Dusan Stojankic said: “We strongly welcome today’s commitment by the Government to introduce Deposit Return Schemes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
“Coca-Cola has long called for a well-designed Deposit Return Scheme that works seamlessly across Great Britain to reduce litter, and enable more packaging to be collected and recycled at the highest quality.
“The plans outlined by DEFRA are a step to achieving just that. We’ll continue to work closely with officials, retailers and our peers across the industry to ensure that the scheme is easy for consumers to use, while delivering the best outcome for the environment.”
Eco-warrior Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey added:“We are determined to turn the tide of plastic bottles and cans littering our streets, oceans and countryside.
“Our new plans will make it easier for everyone to recycle all the time – even when you are out and about. And, with our bans on single-use plastics, we are making real inroads to stop harmful plastics from polluting the environment.”
