Challenging Government, Government & Policy, Impact, Plastic Pollution, Reduce, Refill & Reuse, Supermarket Plastic, Uncategorised Posted — 17 April 2024
Shocking: The BIG PLASTIC COUNT results revealed
The Big Plastic Count shows the true scale of plastic of the plastic problem and that, despite overwhelming support for reduction, little progress has been made by supermarkets and big brands to kerb production. The results are clear: the UK is still producing too much plastic.
Here’s what the report from Everyday Plastic and Greenpeace found:
🏠 UK households are throwing away an estimated 1.7 billion pieces of plastic packaging every week. That’s 90 billion pieces a year.
🤔 If you counted all the plastic packaging the UK uses in one week, one second at a time, it would take you 53 years and 7 months. The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other nation – second only to the US.
🥪 The most counted category was snack packaging (699,932 pieces), closely followed by fruit and vegetable packaging (697,085 pieces).
🔥 Over half (58%) of the pieces are being incinerated – that’s up from 46% from the count in 2022.
♻️ Recycling will never be able to catch up with the volume of plastics being produced. Of the plastic surveyed, only 17% would get recycled domestically, 14% would be exported and 11% would end up in landfill.
“Over 224,000 people from across the country took part in The Big Plastic Count this year. Our participants have helped us to expose the plastic waste crisis through this unique and engaging investigation, and we’ve revealed that more plastic waste is being burned than ever. Over half of the counted plastic packaging (58%) is ending up at an incinerator, a significant increase on the last Count in 2022. It’s time that the government and supermarkets take urgent action to stop endless plastic production.” Daniel Webb, Founder and Director, Everyday Plastic
Yes, we all have individual responsibility in the plastic crisis, but there is only so much we can do as individuals in a system that often gives no other option that single use plastic. We need big business and government to step up and get with the 21st century. We need to stop delays to things that will lead to a more circular economy in the UK. Things like a Deposit Return Scheme and Extended Producer Responsibility. And we need to halt the over production of plastic globally.
Rachel Yates, Senior Communities Manager at Surfers Against Sewage
The Big Plastic Count is run by Everyday Plastic and Greenpeace and supported by Surfers Against Sewage, with academic support from the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth.
We are now calling on the UK government and supermarkets to advocate for a legally binding target in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, and reduce plastic production by at least 75% by 2040. The government must follow through with plastic reducing policies such as the Deposit Return and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.
No more delays. We need action now.
So what can we do about it?
“If I started counting every bit of plastic packaging the UK throws away in a week, it would take me until 2077 to count every piece. The problem is huge, and the challenge of fixing it can feel overwhelming. There are solutions out there though. We just need our politicians and big businesses to grasp them – whether that’s moving to refill and reuse products that are accessible to all or introducing targets to cut plastic production.” Laura Burley, Project Lead for The Big Plastic Count at Greenpeace UK
Our Plastic Free Communities are leading the way in the UK through local community-led action and plastic reduction, why not join them and SAY NO to single-use plastics. Here’s 3 ways you can get involved:
- Sign up and get your Individual Action Plan
- Find or set up a Plastic Free Community through our map
- Sign up your business to be a Plastic Free Champion
To find out more about the Big Plastic Count:
- Read the full details of the results at here: https://thebigplasticcount.com/results
- Watch the results video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_gzSDySh5s
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