Manufacturers will pick up the burden of paying for recycling under new government plans which hope to cut down on waste going to landfill.
Currently councils pay 90% of the bill for recycling, but if a new strategy gets the green light, this will go to the product manufacturers, forcing them to think again about making packaging sustainable.
Producers will have to pay the full net cost of disposing or recycling the packaging, with money going to councils to help them improve waste and recycling systems,
The industry will have to pay more if their products are harder to reuse or recycle, and the environment department (Defra) hope this will encourage more sustainable design.
It could raise between £500m and £1bn per year to aid the recycling and disposing of rubbish.
Also included in the plans is a commitment to weekly food waste collections in every home, and clearer labelling on packaging to show if it can be recycled.
Defra's plans come as figures on household recycling in England show rates have flat-lined in recent years.
It will mean more consistent recycling schemes across councils all over the country and should result in a reduction in the amount of recyclable waste that ends up in the wrong bin.
The consistent labelling proposed could be as simple as a "green dot" on items that can be recycled, Defra said.
A recent survey by the consumer group Which? revealed more than half of people do not know how to identify whether an item's packaging can be recycled based on its symbols.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "We really need to shift the dial on recycling and our strategy will help make that happen.
"We'll make sure producers pay more in order to use the material that goes to generate all this waste.
"And we will use that money to ensure that across every local authority, we've got a more consistent approach to recycling that will help citizens know exactly what they should put in which bin.
"As a result, we will improve recycling in this country and use all resources more efficiently."
In addition to the plans outlined, Defra has also mooted the potential return of free garden waste collections, which many households have lost in recent years due to council spending cuts.
Environmental campaigners have welcomed the intervention from government, but are concerned by the fact that the plans – to be approved following consultation in the new year – will not enter law until 2023.
Dr Lyndsey Dodds, head of UK marine policy at WWF, said: "It is great that the government is making recycling easier and that they are finally asking producers to pay the cost. But that alone won't cure our plastic plague.
"We must reduce the amount produced and used. We need the government to follow through on this strategy with strong and urgent action to turn the tide on plastic – before it is too late."
1:07Louise Edge, from Greenpeace UK, added: "The really encouraging part of these proposals are the plans to ensure that companies who create and sell plastic packaging will at last pay for dealing with the consequences.
"This should be a big help in getting difficult to recycle and expensive plastic packaging off our supermarket shelves, driving better product design and much needed investment in refillable and reusable packaging.
"However, these proposals only enter law in 2023 – after five more years of a truckload of plastic entering our oceans every minute. There's no need for the government to wait that long to ban excessive and non-recyclable plastics."
Martin Tett, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, also warned that existing contracts councils have with waste collection companies means some may not be able to implement the changes until later.
But he did welcome the move for businesses to pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging.
"Not every council area is currently able to recycle everything due to long-term contracts being held with different companies with different infrastructure available," he said.
"Therefore, upfront funding is vital to making this work."
All of the plans outlined are separate to proposals for a deposit return scheme to boost recycling of bottles, cans and disposable coffee cups, which ministers are also due to consult on in 2019.
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That proposal – announced by Mr Gove earlier this year – was a major victory for the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign.
:: Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign encourages people to reduce their single-use plastics. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved at skyoceanrescue.com
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