Committee urges London mayor to tackle plastic bottle waste

The report found that the capital's population consumes the most plastic bottled water in the country- 7.7bn a year - yet has the UK's worst recycling rate - 32%, compared with a national average of 43%.

Plastic bottles, which take 450 years to break down, make up 10% of all litter found in the Thames, according to the Thames21 waterways group.

The report urges London mayor Sadiq Khan to address the issue of plastic water bottle waste in his upcoming environment strategy. It also recommends that he considers the implementation of a bottle Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

However, while the likes of Coca Cola have tentatively voiced support for such a scheme, there has been some opposition to DRS as recently reported by Packaging News. Three consumer focus groups and three retailer focus groups were held in England, Scotland and Wales exploring retailers and consumers understanding of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and the impact it would have on their recycling habits and businesses.

It concluded that DRS is too complex, too expensive and too burdensome on customers and small shops.

The news also comes after Skipping Rocks Lab, a firm founded by three London design students, announced its 'mission to make packaging waste disappear,' unveiling its first product - edible capsule for water Ooho!