By Leah Conway –
Earlier this year in May, Greenpeace revealed a pamphlet titled Trashed: How the UK is still dumping plastic waste on the rest of the world.
Greenpeace reveals that the UK is a major contributor to the world’s plastic crisis. The UK generate more plastic waste per person than any other country apart from the USA.
As well as our plastic waste overwhelming UK recycling system, Greenpeace revealed that the UK is now severely harming other countries recycling systems too – particularly Malaysia. Not only harming other countries recycling systems but harming the citizens and environment.
Greenpeace has outlined several things that the UK need to do urgently:
- Ban exports of plastic to other countries to end the dumping of plastic waste that passes for recycling.
- Build new recycling infrastructure in the UK so it can deal with its own plastic waste
- Cut down the amount of plastic produced in the first place, Greenpeace said, “Reducing single-use plastic by 50% would not only allow the UK to end waste exports but would also mean less plastic going into incineration and landfill.”
On a final note, Greenpeace calls on the government, saying they must mandate a 50% reduction in single-use plastic by 2025, also calling on supermarkets and major brands as they must deliver it. Find out how the G7 summit approached climate change this year here.
You can download the full report Trashed: How the UK is still dumping plastic waste on the rest of the world.