Today the Liberal Democrats will set out a raft of policies
as part of a radical plan to end the UK’s addiction to plastic.
These policies include:
- Requiring all retailers to reduce
the amount of plastics and non-recyclable packaging they use
- Implementing a deposit return
scheme
- Ending plastic exports abroad by
2030
Following this announcement, Liberal Democrat
Spokesperson for
Energy and Climate
Change, said:
"The UK produces 2.26 million tonnes of plastic packaging every
year, but less than half of this is being recycled. The
Conservatives have claimed they will cut plastic pollution but
all they have done in reality is attempt to get headlines with
piecemeal bans on straws and stirrers.
"The Liberal Democrats demand better for our environment. We need
a rapid plan to eliminate plastic pollution if our seas are to
recover from the damage we’ve done.
"That is why the Liberal Democrats are proposing a radical plan
that will end the UK's addiction to plastic. By banning all
non-essential non-recyclable single-use plastics within the first
three years of a Liberal Democrat government we will stop huge
amounts of plastic pollution.
"Under the Liberal Democrats, no plastic put into a bin in the UK
will end up in our oceans. By declaring a war on plastic the
Liberal Democrats will ensure a brighter future for our
planet."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The average UK home produces 1.1kg of waste every day and the
duty should be placed on retailers to ensure that this is
reduced.
The Liberal Democrats would introduce a three-year target
obliging retailers and other businesses to make their
plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or eliminate it all
together, starting with hard-to-recycle items, such as black
plastic.
The UK government announced to a deposit return scheme in 2018,
but it is currently due to be implemented by 2023, we need this
sooner if we’re to start to tackle plastic pollution. Liberal
Democrats would push for a UK wide scheme, modelled on the
Scottish scheme that is due to start next year.
The Liberal Democrats deposit return scheme would include all
food and drinks containers – aiming to end the 15 million bottles
that are littered, landfilled and incinerated daily in the UK and
reducing the £778 million a year we spend clearing plastic
litter.
In 2018 the UK exported 0.6 million tonnes of plastic waste. Many
countries cannot process all the waste it receives and often it
is contaminated or low-grade plastic – it therefore often ends up
in landfill, defeating the purpose of exporting it abroad.
The Liberal Democrats would ensure any revenue raised from the
deposit return scheme and the Government’s levy of virgin plastic
would be invested in recycling infrastructure in the UK.
