A new deposit scheme for single-use bottles (Image: Getty Images)
Conservatives have accused Labour of “pushing up the price of the weekly shop” as Ministers prepared to add a deposit to the price of many drinks.
The cost has not been confirmed but a similar scheme in Scotland charges consumers 20p per item.
Single-use cans and bottles will be affected, including those made of plastic and aluminium. However glass bottles will not be included.
Shoppers will be able to get the money back by returning the empty container to a collection point such as a supermarket.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: “Labour’s levy on packaging is another cost for hard pressed families, pushing up the price of the weekly shop.
“This government talks about growth, but words are cheap. When you look at their actions, every day they are shackling our economy with higher taxes and more red tape on business.
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“Under new leadership, the Conservatives are unafraid to call out schemes dreamed up in Whitehall that will do more harm than good.”
The Government is implementing the required legislation today, allowing the scheme to come into effect in 2027.
Across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, consumers buy an estimated 30 billion single-use drinks containers each year – including 12 billion plastic drinks bottles and 13 billion drinks cans
But an estimated 6.5 billion single-use drinks bottles and cans per year go to waste rather than being recycled, with many ending up littered.
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The scheme will be introduced in October 2027, with 150ml to three-litre single-use drinks containers made from plastic and metal included.
Environment Minister Mary Creagh said: “This Government will clean up Britain and end the throwaway society.
“This is a vital step as we stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up our streets, rivers and oceans and protect our treasured wildlife. Turning trash into cash also delivers on our Plan for Change by kickstarting clean growth, ensuring economic stability, more resilient supply chains, and new green jobs.”
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, said: “A Deposit Return Scheme really is a silver bullet that will get plastic drinks bottles and aluminium cans out of our parks, off our streets and away from our rivers and seas.
“Depressingly we litter, burn or bury millions of drinks containers each and every day. This legislation will end all that, save the taxpayer millions in clean-up costs and give recycling a real shot in the arm.
“Backed and paid for by producers, this method of retrieval and recycling is tried and tested the world over so at Keep Britain Tidy we are putting out the bunting that this government is committed to make it happen, for us all.”