16 April 2024 – New research has shown that the UK throws away more plastic waste per person than any other country, apart from the US. This is hardly a record to be proud of.
The UK has taken part in The Big Plastic Count, where Brits count every single piece of plastic they throw away. Apart from households, schools, community groups and businesses also got involved, resulting in 224,381 people taking part.
For one week in March, these citizen scientists gathered data about the plastic they threw away. Now the results have been published, and they are shocking.
Other than the US, the UK throws away more plastic per person than any other country. This shows what a huge problem plastic waste is in the UK and that urgent action is needed.
1.7bn Plastic Pieces Per Week
The research, which was conducted by Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic, estimates that each UK household throws away 60 items of plastic each week.
Overall, the UK disposes of 1.7 billion pieces of plastic every week. This estimate is based on the findings of The Big Plastic Count.
That’s a staggering 90 billion pieces a year. No wonder the UK is in the top two, second only to the US. But given that the US is much bigger, this is no mean feat. It shows one thing very clearly: we produce far too much plastic waste.
The plastic items counted included items that were put in the general waste and recycling bin. At least we recycle some of the plastic, right? According to The Big Plastic Count, only 17% of our plastic waste is recycled.
11% ends up in our landfills and 14% are exported to other countries which have a worse recycling infrastructure than we do. But the majority, 58%, of the plastic we throw away is incinerated, which means it’s burnt to produce energy.
Incineration And Recycling Not The Answer
Why is so much plastic burnt? As using landfills gets more expensive, the cheapest option is to incinerate the waste, hence why the number of incinerations has gone up. In 2022, 46% of household plastic got incinerated, today that has risen to 58%.
While burning the plastic might be cheaper, it’s a bad solution for us and the planet. Burning plastic releases toxic gases that end up in the air we breathe in. But it also contributes to climate change, as it produces more carbon dioxide than burning coal.
So, if the UK is to reach net-zero by 2050, as it’s legally obliged to do, we have to stop incinerating our waste. But it looks like the government wants to increase the amount, given that 12 new incinerators are being built in England.
But why is so little plastic recycled? Because we just produce too much of it for the UK’s recycling infrastructure to cope with. But even if plastic is recycled, that doesn’t mean it’s kept out of landfill or incinerators for long.
Plastic can only be recycled a few times before it’s degraded too much and has to be thrown away. So recycling isn’t the solution that many would like it to be.
The Big Plastic Count says that the results of their research show that the UK has a plastic crisis that is out of control. It therefore calls on the governments to come together to act and reduce plastic production by 75% by 2040.
They have created a petition to urge the Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Steve Barclay, to champion a strong Global Plastics Treaty at the UN. They call for a solution to the problem once and for all.
Our Opinion
While the results of the research are shocking, they aren’t surprising. All you have to do is look around when you shop, everything comes in plastic. And it’s not easy to avoid it.
Let’s say you want to buy apples. Most come packed in plastic as a 6-pack. If you were to decide to buy them lose to save on plastic, you will have to spend more money. It’s the same with pears.
Many other fruits you can’t buy without the plastic, such as strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. There are things that we as individuals can do to reduce the amount of plastic we use and throw away.
Swapping to shampoo bars, body bars, plastic-free cleaning products, deodorants, make-up, etc. will all help us to reduce the amount of plastic we use. However, to solve this problem for good, we need a concerted effort by the world’s governments.
Legislation that aims at reducing the amount of plastic we produce and use will force businesses to rethink their approach. For example, why does shampoo still come in plastic bottles? Because that’s how the big companies do it, and it would be expensive to change it.
And there is no need for them to make any change. However, if there was legislation around the world that would, say, ban plastic packaging if there is another way, they would have to act.
We need bold and drastic action from world leaders to tackle this issue before it’s too late. If you agree, sign The Big Plastic Count’s petition and call on governments to act.
