Eunomia’s Head of Environmental Policy and Economics, Chris Sherrington, contributed to this report published by the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee in December 2017. The report considers the environmental and financial impacts associated with the 5.5 billion plastic bottles that are landfilled, littered or incinerated in the UK each year.
The report considers the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle and what can be implemented to redress the fact that currently the taxpayer bears most of the costs associated with the recycling and disposal of the 13 billion plastic bottles used in the UK each year.
Eunomia provided evidence for the report on the effectiveness of a Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) and the benefits this would have in addressing the current problem. As part of this contribution, Chris was invited to give evidence on the social, environmental and economic impacts of a DRS in October 2017.
Other potential solutions considered within the report include improving design for recyclability, reforming producer responsibility obligations and preventing plastic bottle use.
