Single-use coffee cup charge set to be brought in next year under Scottish Government plans

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scots will face charges for single-use coffee cups by next year under new Scottish Government plans to slash waste.SNP-Green ministers also intend to give councils powers to impose on-the-spot fines and civil penalties to households who put things in the wrong rubbish and recycling bins.The sweeping proposals come despite stats showing the amount of waste Scots send to landfill has fallen by a third in the last decade.

But the Holyrood government insisted more needs to be done for the environment as part of a new “Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030” consultation document.It includes plans to later this year ban the destruction of unsold consumer goods.And it vows to give councils “more tools” to improve household recycling rates and prevent people from “contaminating” collections by placing items in the wrong bins.Critics have previously hit out at Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater’s circular economy policies as vague and uncosted.Now, the government has set out dates for key measures in line with its planned Circular Economy Bill.The document said one policy would be a charge on single-use disposable cups in a bid to eradicate their use - dubbed the "latte levy" - similar to the 2014 carrier bag charge.It said: “If the Bill is passed, we intend to use these new powers to introduce a charge for single-use disposable cups by 2025.

A charge or ban on unnecessary products provides a strong incentive to choose reusable alternatives, or to avoid certain products altogether.”Officials also set out their reasoning for allowing councils more powers to impose penalties on people who routinely fail to use household recycling bins properly - saying 60 per cent of current domestic waste could be recycled.The