5p cup tax hinted at to tackle lack of recycling

Since the introduction of a plastic bag tax the amount of plastic bags used has dropped - this is true for Scotlnad, England and Wales. The reduction of use in single use plastic bags has led to an increase in the use of multi use bags instead, but every little helps right!!

So since the success has reduced landfill and a huge recycling problem has been headed off surely other measures to tackle single use disposable items would be a good idea. This was hinted at in the House of Commons recently as a reaction to a question from Labour MP Rob Marris.

Rory Stewart (resources minister) agreed that the industry figure from Simply Cups (the only cup recycler in the UK at the time) of 1 cup in every 400 being recycled is a problem. Most cups made of paper are plastic lined and as such cannot easily be recycled...

The alternatives are to use cups that are easily recycled (Vegware would seem to fit the bill here!) or to provide better recycling facilities to ensure the cups taken away do not end up on our streets or in landfill. Just because a cup carries the recycling logo doesn't mean that it will always be recycled - onus is on the user to make sure it is!

Defra have quickly intervened to say that they have no plans at the moment to introduce such a tax, but that may be a 'yet' as surely such a good idea deserves to see the light of day sooner rather than later?!