Sykes hits out at government delay on single-use plastics deposit scheme
Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has hit out after the government announced further delays to its long-awaited deposit scheme for single-use plastic bottles. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced a two-year delay to the plans, which were first promised under David Cameron’s government. No new policy is expected before 2027.
Councillor Sykes said, “We've gone through four Prime Ministers since a deposit return scheme was first promised. And yet it will be nearly a decade until they have something to show for it.
“How many millions of single-use plastic bottles have been used and gone into landfill in the time that the government have wasted on this?”
Scottish councils already have single-use plastic deposit schemes in place after a new policy came into play in Scotland on March 1st of this year. England and Wales are lagging behind as fresh disagreements emerged between government officials on whether glass bottles should be included in the scheme.
Locally, councillor Sykes and his Liberal Democrat colleagues have criticised Oldham Council after it was revealed that single-use plastic cups were still in use inside council buildings nearly six years after the council voted to ban them.
Councillor Sykes said, “Oldham Council and the government seem to be locked into a competition over who can take the least action on this. Oldham Council supported a Liberal Democrat motion banning single-use plastics in Council buildings back in March 2018. Yet earlier this year those plastics were still in use. It is not good enough.
“The government needs to end the delay and introduce a deposit scheme for single-use bottles so that people can recycle more easily. Stop the bickering and get on with it."