Petition · past parliament

Introduce a returnable deposit scheme for all recyclable containers

Rejected 10 signatures

What the petition asks

Reduce the amount of discarded containers which are littering many areas in the UK in spite of the provision for fines imposed by the 1990 environmental protection act.
In countries that have instituted deposit return schemes, the rate of returns is circa 90%. In spite of kerbside collection schemes in the UK. Much of the huge amounts of litter collected by volunteer litter pickers is made up of recyclable containers. There are few areas that are not littered at some point by containers thrown where they can not be retrieved.
The well meaning fines imposed by the 1990 EPA are ineffective in the vast majority of cases. The creation of a financial incentive not to litter is needed.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

17 Feb 2021 Petition opened for signatures
24 Feb 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 10
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Feb 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.