- Londoners consume more plastic bottled water per person than anywhere else in England[1].
- London has some of the worst recycling rates in the UK[2].
- Plastic bottles make up 10 per cent of all litter found in the Thames[3].
The London Assembly Environment Committee launches its report, ‘Bottled Water’[4] today which examines the environmental impacts of plastic water bottles and makes recommendations to reduce the effects.
The report found:
- More plastic bottles need to be recycled in London. In Germany, where DRS machines are located in places such as supermarkets, 99 per cent of plastic bottles are recycled[5].
- Providing tap water as an alternative is essential.
- Three quarters of the flounder swimming in the Thames had consumed plastic[6].
The recommendations include:
- The Mayor should explore the feasibility of a DRS in London, with a view to trialling a nation-wide scheme. A DRS would offer an incentive for Londoners to return plastic bottles by adding a reclaimable amount to the price of bottled drinks.
- The Mayor should:
- encourage community water refill schemes in which Londoners can fill up water bottles for free at participating venues;
- install more water refilling stations across the London transport network;
- promote apps to help consumers locate businesses willing to provide free water refills.
- The Mayor must address plastic water bottle waste specifically in his upcoming Environment Strategy.
Environment Committee Chair, Leonie Cooper AM, said:
“Plastic waste is out of control in London. It litters our parks, pollutes the Thames, harms marine life, and adds waste to London’s landfill sites, which may be full by 2025[7].
We have to turn the situation around. Firstly, Londoners need an alternative to buying bottles of water - this is a crucial part of the solution. Tap water needs to be more readily available. Secondly, we need to improve our recycling of plastic bottles. Currently, far too many end up in landfill or in the natural environment and London boroughs have some of the worst recycling rates in the whole of the UK.
Electors heard Sadiq Khan pledge to be the 'greenest Mayor London has ever had’, now it’s time to fulfil that promise by addressing our thirst for plastic bottled water.”
Related documents
Environment Committee - Bottled Water report
Notes to editors
- London contributes to shameful UK pollution problem as Britons admit to using 7.7 billion plastic bottles of water a year – Brita
- Household Waste Recycling Rates, maintained by Opinion Research and General Statistics (GLA), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1998-2015) [Created 8 November 2013, modified 8 February 2017]
- Thames River Watch Reporting January 2017 – Litter monitoring results, Thames 21, January 2017.
- The response is the view of a majority of the Committee, agreed by the Green, Labour and UKIP Groups. GLA Conservatives take the view that a Deposit Return Scheme may or may not be suitable for London. There would be a number of issues to consider, such as how the deposit money is handled, the infrastructure that would be needed to deliver the scheme, and whether there would be sufficient incentives to change behaviour. A feasibility study should consider all of these issues. Support for a trial or for a full Deposit Return Scheme should only be considered once we know the outcome of the feasibility study and whether a workable scheme is possible for London.
- Beverage packaging and Zero Waste, Zero Waste Europe.
- Environmental Pollution - Presence of microplastic in the digestive tracts of European flounder, Platichthys flesus, and European smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, from the River Thames, McGoran, A.R., Clark P.F., and Morritt, 30 September 2016.
- ‘Bag it or bin it? Managing London’s domestic food waste’, London Assembly Environment Committee, February 2015.
- The Committee’s ‘Bottled Water’ report is attached.
- Leonie Cooper AM, Environment Committee Chair, is available for interview – see contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Mary Dolan on 020 7983 4603. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.