The UK’s biggest ever survey of
household plastic waste, ‘The Big Plastic Count’, has revealed how much plastic
the average household throws away. The survey’s organisers say that recycling
is not the solution.
We’re throwing away nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic a
year, according to a Greenpeace survey. Nearly 100,000 UK households counted
how much disposable plastic packaging they threw away during the course of a
week. With the average household throwing 66 pieces of plastic away a week,
Greenpeace said ‘recycling is hardly making a dent’, while survey co-organisers
Everyday Plastic said ‘recycling doesn’t work, we all know it.’
Data shows that only 12% of the single-use plastic packaging
from our homes gets sent for recycling. 46% is incinerated and 25% is dumped in
landfill. 17% is shipped away to other countries for ‘processing’. 83% of our
plastic waste comes from food and drink packaging.
Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic are now calling for the UK
government to commit to eliminating disposable plastic, and banning all
exportation of plastic waste. They’ve also suggested a deposit return scheme on
drinks containers.
Daniel Webb, the founder of Everyday Plastic, said ‘These new figures lay bare the
responsibility of the government, big brands and supermarkets to tackle this
crisis, and they must rise to the challenge right now — there is no time to
waste.’
Chris
Thorne, Greenpeace UK’s plastics campaigner, said ‘Pretending we can sort this
with recycling is just industry greenwash.’
DEFRA, the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, responded by saying:
‘We are
going further to tackle single use plastics through our landmark Environment
Act.’ While the British Retail Consortium said ‘The ability to remove branded
single-use plastic packaging is challenging but can be unlocked with
partnerships and collaboration with producers and does not alter retailers'
underlining drive to make quick and effective changes in reducing single-use plastics.’
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add the Smart Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a Package to your basket, and progress to the last stage of the checkout process, we will then add in your discount. So don't worry if you don't see it before then (such as in the cart).
Once you add a new subscription package to your basket, we will apply the first month free discount, which will be visible in your cart. So don’t worry if you don’t see it right away.
