Waste risk for UK national dish
A deluge of plastic accumulating in the oceans threatens the future of fish and humans, environmental charity warns
Fish and chips, one of Britain’s favourite staples, is under threat because of the deluge of plastic waste endangering marine life, a leading environmental charity warned on Wednesday.
To highlight the risk, Plastic Oceans UK teamed up with a “chippie” in the northern city of Blackburn to serve hungry customers battered deep-fried fishshaped plastic instead of the usual cod with their chips.
“The amount of plastic reaching the ocean threatens not only the future of fish, but our future, too,” said Geoff Brighty, technical director of Plastic Oceans UK.
“If we continue at this rate, not only will our beloved national dish be a thing of the past, but we’ll be facing other catastrophic problems for our planet.”
Plastic Oceans’ FutureFishandChips campaign is the latest in a string of global efforts by environmental groups and the UN to pare back single-plastic use that is also clogging landfills.
Big brands from Coke to Kellogs have promised to cut plastic waste from their operations as public pressure mounts on manufacturers and retailers.
“When you look at how much plastic is now believed to be entering into the environment it’s somewhere between 4-million and 12-million tons every year and it’s projected to grow to over 20-million tons by 2030, which is a considerable amount of material to go into the oceans and we can already see it’s causing impacts on beaches and in fisheries,” Brighty said.
The hungry customers served up battered plastic were initially irate but appreciated the stunt when it was explained to them. “You watch television and you see the oceans and go on social media and see all these bottles all over the place but then until it’s actually served on a plate to you it’s a bit of an eye opener when you find out what it’s really about,” said one customer.