Curb bottled water ads and tax shrink-wrap to cut UK pollution, says report

The UK uses 10m bottles of water a day, say anti-plastic campaigners. Photograph: Thrive Images/Alamy

Restrictions should be put on bottled water advertising and a 10p tax should be added to shrink-wrapped packs to curb the UK’s 10m bottle-a-day habit, according to campaigners hoping to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.

Despite the supposed plastics backlash inspired by TV shows such as the BBC’s Blue Planet, big water brands are forecast to chalk up growth of more than 10% over the next four years, equivalent to an extra 280m bottles, a new report by the consultancy Retail Economics says.