Greenpeace welcomes Iceland’s move on bottle return scheme

Publication date: 18th May 2018

Puffins with plastic pollution on the Shiant Isles in Scotland
Puffins with plastic pollution on the Shiant Isles in Scotland

Commenting on the announcement by supermarket chain Iceland that it’s embracing government plans for a deposit-return scheme for plastic bottles by trialling reverse vending machine at its stores, Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

“Iceland is currently leading the way on retailer pledges to tackle throwaway plastic pollution. Its target to eliminate single-use packaging on own brand products by 2023 will help shrink the mountain of plastic produced by UK supermarkets, and its move towards ensuring all its packaging is fully recyclable is an important step.

“Now Iceland can claim another first as the first UK supermarket to back the government’s plans for a nationwide deposit-return scheme, with in-store testing of reverse vending machines. Other supermarkets should follow Iceland’s lead and act swiftly to dramatically reduce the volume of plastic ending up in our environment.”