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Plastic recycling: Scotland brings in 20p bottle return scheme

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Plastic-bottles-are-bad-for-the-environmentImage source, Getty Images

The Scottish Government are bringing in a deposit return scheme for some plastic bottles, cans and glass.

It means 20p will be added to the price of single-use drinks containers, which you will get back when you return them to the shop.

The plan is to reduce the amount of plastic waste Scotland produce.

There will be two ways you can return your empty container - over the counter to the shop, or by using a "reverse vending machine".

The machine will scan containers when they are returned and refund your deposit.

The government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also looking at introducing a similar scheme.

What is the problem with plastic?

The problem with plastic is that most of it isn't biodegradable. It doesn't rot, like paper or food, so it hangs around in the environment for hundreds of years.

It's thought more than five trillion pieces of plastic are in the world's oceans.

Each year, 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced and 40% of that is single-use - plastic we'll only use once before it's binned.