MPs from all parties are supporting Swansea West MP Geraint Davies’ Plastics Bill, which includes a levy on plastic bottles with a retailer refill scheme so fewer bottles are used to drink more water and retailers will gain footfall in their shops.

Mr Davies said: “It’s a win-win. If instead of buying two wattles for £1, consumers get one for say, 65p and refill it, then we use less plastic and consumers pay less overall with more visits to the shops.”

The Plastics Bill to be published on Monday already has the support of 66 MPs from  six different parties.

“It’s high time plastic producers paid for the recycling of the plastic they create,” said Mr Davies.

Geraint Davies said: “Retailers have already demonstrated that having all plastic recyclable by 2025 is a realistic target and we can’t let a voluntary system allow the good work of the many retailers be undermined by the few.

“Britain’s David Attenborough’s Blue Planet has woken the world to the scale of the problem which the UN says means more plastic in our oceans than fish by 2050. Britain’s highlighter the problem so we should now move into the fast lane to take leadership in sorting it out.”

“This is a wake-up call for retailers using too much and the wrong plastic and to sensitise the public into realising that plastic bottles and packaging are environmental hazards that need urgent control.

“Coastal constituencies like my own Swansea are keenly aware of the growing threat of plastic waste washing onto our beaches and killing our marine wildlife.

“The world must stop subsidising petro-Chemical companies to the tune of $5.3 trillion a year – the size of the U.K. and French economies combined. In the meantime we must make the polluter pay in Britain and take the lead in cleaning up our act.