'Paying people to return litter is a great idea'

Volunteer litter-pickers, including staff from a branch of McDonald's, (from left) Maureen Bell, Dave Clarke, Amanda Marshall, Dylan English, Lorraine Coates, Martyn Coltman, Andy Walker and Alfie Robson

Seaside litter-pickers say people need a greater incentive to stop dropping litter.

Volunteers from the Brightening up Bridlington group do their best to keep the resort and beaches clean and tidy, but are unable recycle the plastic bottles they find because they are not clean when collected.

They have welcomed government plans for a deposit-and-return scheme, which will pay people to take back single-use containers in order to drive up recycling rates.

Traders have also backed the move, though it is not due to be introduced until October 2027.

"If there was a sensible scheme brought in, we do think it would help reduce the amount of plastic bottles," said Martyn Coltman, who has been volunteering for 12 years.

About 59% of plastic bottles are recycled in the UK, but the rate in countries with deposit schemes, such as Germany, can be as high as 98%, according to research by waste management firm Sensoneo.

Macey Harrison, of Jerome's cafe, says the resort suffers from too much litter

Macey Harrison works for Jerome's, which has several cafes and ice cream outlets in Bridlington. She said the deposit idea would offer "a great incentive".

"The amount of rubbish that is left around here in summer – if anybody knew, especially the people that are struggling here, that you could get money or vouchers back, it would be so clean," she added.

Lorraine Coates, an assistant manager at McDonald's in the resort, said she thought "everyone" would be interested in a deposit-and-return scheme if "you get a bit of money back".

"As a restaurant, we spend quite a lot of time litter picking. We care about the local community, so we do a lot ourselves. But it can be frustrating when people do drop litter," she added.

Brightening up Bridlington volunteers in action at Jubilee Fields

Not everyone is convinced a deposit scheme will solve the problem, however.

Visitor Stephen Hodgson said he thought the scheme would be "overcomplicated" and he "couldn't see it working".

A spokesperson for Keep Britain Tidy said the deposit-and-return scheme would clean up the beach, boost recycling rates and "drive down the possibility that plastic waste is burned or exported".

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said the scheme would support 25,000 jobs and stimulate more than £10bn of investment in recycling over the next decade.

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