Hunts Post environment columnist says Government need to do more

According to Defra, the number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold by seven leading supermarket chains in England dropped from 7.6bn in 2014 to 133m last year – or two plastic bags each a year.

The tax has definitely had an impact, but the bags are still being made and 133m are still being used every year – ending up in landfill.  So what does this mean for other single use plastic items we use every day?

Martin Cooper says government need to step up and make changes. (Image: Martin Cooper)

In recent years we have seen bans on a number of items we use once and throw away – from straws to cotton buds banned in 2020, to plastic cutlery and cartons whose ban is due to come into force in October this year.

Environmental campaigners have shared their frustrations with government policies, because they don’t go far enough at preventing the single use plastic problem, and when policies are made, they take years to implement.

Take the deposit return scheme - customers are charged a deposit fee when they buy a drink in a single-use container and you get the money back when you return the empty container.

The scheme has already been implemented in Scotland, but our government, for whom this was a key element of their waste strategy, have delayed the scheme until 2025.

How hard can it be?  I often get customers in my refill shop commenting on what a great idea it is and how all shops should be like this – and then we point out that shops were all like this up until the 1970s, when supermarkets and convenient shopping came into play.

These changes are nothing new, so they shouldn’t need an additional two years to implement?