The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has called on the Government to review its plan for a bottle recycling scheme after finding it would cost the retail industry £1.8 billion a year.

The £1.8bn figure - ten times what the Government predicted - includes the cost of purchasing recycling machines, running costs and extra labour demands.

The Government's bottle recycling scheme, officially known as the deposit return scheme (DRS), would charge customers an additional fee when they purchase a single-use container.

Customers would then be able to return their containers to a return point to get back their deposit, while their containers are sent for recycling.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, said the DRS was "costly, complicated and cannot deliver the step change in recycling needed to justify it".

"By driving up costs by almost £2 billion per year, the Government risks pushing up prices for ordinary households, just as inflation is coming down", he added.

A Government spokesperson said:

"We are committed to introducing our reforms to reduce waste and improve our use of resources.

"Our deposit return scheme is an important part of this, which is why we are working with the supply chain to design a simple and effective system that benefits businesses, consumers, and the environment."

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