Why the UK's plastic bottle deposit plan doesn't go far enough

The UK government’s announcement that it is considering introducing a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles in England is great news. Currently only 40 to 70 per cent of plastic bottles are recycled, depending on whose figures you believe.

Recycling can produce a lot of carbon dioxide but generally far less than making new plastic from scratch. According to one 2015 study, for instance, recycling 1 tonne of the PET plastic commonly used to make drinks bottles reduces carbon emissions by more than 2 tonnes.

The downside is that…