Beijing, March 29 (Xinhua) According to foreign media reports, as the plastic waste problem is becoming more and more serious, the British government, referring to the practice of Denmark, Sweden and Germany, recently announced its intention to levy a tax of up to 22 pence on disposable bottled drinks, while launching a cash rebate program for consumers. As long as the plastic bottles, glass bottles and metal bottles to be recycled, the authorities will provide cash rewards.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said that in addition to the tax, automatic recycling machines will be set up to put plastic, glass and metal bottles, will recoup 22 pence tax. It is also reported that the government plans to legislate to require retailers to add thousands of recycling machines and build a recycling network.

Gove said millions of plastic bottles go unrecycled every day in the UK, threatening our oceans, so authorities are considering a tax on bottled drinks after banning plastic microbeads and introducing a "plastic bag tax". A public consultation on the plan, which will begin this year, will explore the feasibility of the scheme in detail, examine other measures to boost recycling rates and gather views from producers, suppliers and consumers.

Recycling machines have successfully set a precedent in Europe by providing financial incentives for consumers to recycle plastic bottles through cash rebates. After Germany set up recycling machines in 2003, the recycling rate rose to 95 per cent.

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