The Big Plastic Count saw almost 100,000 homes track every single piece of single-use packaging over the course of a week. Held in May, the project represented a quarter of a million people, each throwing an average of 66 pieces each week. If scaled up to every home in the country, it suggests that Britons throw away 96.6 billion pieces of single-use plastic a year. The survey, commissioned by environmental charities Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic, also found that the most common item to be packed was fruit and vegetable packaging, followed by snack bags, packets and wraps. Of the discarded plastic, the scheme found that 46% is incinerated and 25% is landfilled. Just 12% will be recycled at UK facilities, while a further 17% will be sent overseas for processing, he added. The two charities claim this is the first time plastic waste has been measured in individual pieces, as the government records the amount by weight. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 21:57 Preparing for the Big Plastic Count “Turn off the plastic faucet” As a result of the findings, they are now calling on the government to set legally binding targets to reduce single-use plastics by at least 50% by 2025. “This new evidence reveals the responsibility of government, big brands and supermarkets to tackle this crisis and they need to step up to the challenge now – there is no time to lose,” said Daniel Webb, founder of Everyday Plastic. Greenpeace UK plastics campaigner Chris Thorne added that the government should “turn off the plastic tap”. “This is an incredible amount of plastic waste and it should give ministers pause for thought,” he said. “Pretending we can solve this with recycling is just industrial gridlock.” As well as sharp cuts to single-use plastic, the organizations want to see a ban on exports of plastic waste, a refund system on drinks containers and a moratorium on new incineration capacity. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:38 Plastic waste floods the beach What is the government doing? According to trade association Plastics Europe, the global economy produces more than 350 million tonnes of plastic each year – more than the combined mass of all mammals on Earth. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was “going further” in tackling single-use plastics by introducing its environment law. “We have restricted the supply of plastic straws and cotton buds, banned the supply of plastic drink stirrers and are finalizing proposals to introduce a deposit refund scheme, which will capture plastic bottles. “Packaging producers are expected to cover the costs of recycling and disposing of their packaging through the introduction of extended producer responsibility, and this year we introduced a world-leading plastics tax to help tackle plastic waste.” Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm. Monday to Friday and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. All on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, YouTube and Twitter. The show explores how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
