Cross-party backing for new plastic crackdown, as 71% of public support bans

• 25 MPs, Peers and NGOs back Reduce, Refill and Replace Revolution, in an open letter backing a crackdown on single use plastics, as 71% of public back new bans
• Campaigners cite King Charles III’s appeal to move “from a model that encourages a buy, use, throw-away mentality, to one that facilitates re-use, recovery and regeneration”
• Under Johnson, outright bans on more plastics – including on plastic sachets – had been in prospect but progress has stalled
• Leading plastics campaigner Sian Sutherland calls on Liz Truss to “reset the government’s fortunes by showing global leadership on plastic”

LEADING MPs and peers from across the political spectrum have called for the Truss government to act on single use plastic.  Former Conservative Minister, Lord John Randall, leads an open letter backing a comprehensive new strategy compiled by global solutions agency, A Plastic Planet.

Launched as a ready-made roadmap for ministers, the plan titled The Reduce, Refill and Replace Revolution sets out how UK could become a world leader in removing plastic from fashion and packaging. 

Environmental campaigners including The Ocean Foundation and City to Sea have also joined leading Labour MPs and Liberal Democrat frontbenchers in backing the plans.  

They write:

“Before coming to the throne HM King Charles III rightly said the world must move ‘from a model that encourages a buy, use, throw-away mentality, to one that facilitates re-use, recovery and regeneration’. We agree. 

“The outgoing Johnson government began gathering evidence on the impact of 855 billion plastic sachets thrown away around the world each year, with a view to a comprehensive UK ban. But progress has faltered, wasting precious time.  

“New polling evidence shows that 71% of the public are concerned that plastic bottles, tubs and trays do not get recycled into new plastics. As the King indicates, these items need to be replaced with alternative materials.”

The group also calls for fashion giants to “become subject to the ‘polluter pays’ principle, compelling big brands to take responsibility for the 63% of their clothing materials derived from plastic.” 

The Reduce, Refill and Replace Revolution is published followingevidence gathered by Yonder which revealed almost three quarters of the UK public are concerned plastic bottles, tubs and trays do not get recycled into new plastics.

The roadmap condemns plastic as “materially unsuited to single-use applications” and demands a raft of single use plastic bans as early as 2024 on plastic sachets, bags, pots, single-use bottles, and fruit and veg wrapping.

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet states: “Now is the time for Liz Truss to reset the government’s fortunes by showing real global leadership on plastic.  Picking plastic items off one by one, straws, cotton buds etc., is making no impact on the devastation plastic pollution is causing. We need a comprehensive policy with teeth that sets the UK ahead as discussions commence on the UN Global Plastics Treaty. Right now there is a vacuum of intent with England lagging far behind the EU”.

“Industry needs certainty so they can lead the change and only government can give this certainty through fast legislation. Where viable alternatives exist, needless plastic products must be banned and innovations incentivised until all single-use plastics are replaced.”

Under A Plastic Planet’s proposals, large supermarkets – which presently use some 114 billion pieces of throwaway plastic packaging each year – would be mandated to dedicate floor space to refill solutions. They would also be required to declare annual figures on their use of plastic across the whole supply chain, from suppliers to the shelf to the consumer

Beyond changes to packaging, the strategy calls for an extension of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle to the fashion industry, to curb the ‘fast fashion’ industry. Fossil fuel fibres represent over two-thirds (69%) of all materials used in textiles, which is expected to reach nearly three-quarters by 2030.

The document lays down the gauntlet to the new Truss government to use a range of existing legislation to take the UK beyond the European Union’s ambitions on plastics reduction – an objective with 65% support among the public according to polling.

Signatures include:

Wendy Chamberlain MP (Liberal Democrat), Sarah Champion MP (Labour), Stuart McDonald MP (SNP), Lord Randall  (Conservative), Baroness Burt (Liberal Democrat), Ben Lake MP (Plaid Cymru), Rachael Maskill MP (Labour), Alison Thewliss MP (SNP), Alan Brown MP (SNP), Lord Howarth (Labour), Charlotte Nichols MP (Labour), Richard Thomson MP (SNP), Ben Bradshaw MP (Labour), Mick Whitley MP(Labour), Marion Fellows MP (SNP), Kirsten Oswald MP (SNP), Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (Liberal Democrats), Sammy Wilson (DUP), Lord McNally (Liberal Democrat), Lorraine Platt (Conservative Animal Welfare Association), David Newman (BBIA), Ecosurety, The Ocean Foundation, Solicitors Regulatory Authority, Steve Hynd (City to Sea Policy Manager)

A Plastic Planet is a global solutions organisation. It has one goal – to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap.