Now our Armed Forces go to war against plastic waste
TROOPS have been ordered to cut down their use of plastic at British bases around the world.
Ministers have launched a review to help combat the tide of litter polluting oceans and countryside.
In a victory for the Daily Mail’s campaign against toxic waste, plastic cutlery, bottles and packaging could all be banned in barracks at home and overseas.
Ministry of Defence officials are looking into the cost of renegotiating contracts with firms that rely too heavily on plastic, or choosing suppliers that are more environmentally friendly.
The review – which concludes in the next couple of weeks – will look at alternative materials, reusable options and ways of encouraging recycling.
Last month the Army, Royal Navy and RAF frontline commands were told to examine which single-use plastics they use at official facilities. This includes the MoD main building in London, the Army’s Land Forces Headquarters in Andover and the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, London.
Military staff at overseas bases including the Falkland Islands, Cyprus, and Gibraltar have also been told to look at plastic use. Special Forces soldiers are reviewing their use of plastics, but this will not be extended to frontline operations. Troops on operations in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan are not taking part in the review, and rations packs will also not be changed.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘Like all departments we’re working to reduce and, where possible, eliminate single-use plastics. We are currently undertaking a review of what plastics the MoD and the Armed Forces use and are working to drive this initiative forward. The review will have no impact on current military operations.’
Defence sources said: ‘This is a scoping exercise and will lay out where we think we could get rid of plastics. We are looking at the alternatives and weighing this up with the cost implications.’ British representatives to Nato are also planning to encourage other countries in the alliance to do the same at the headquarters in Brussels.
Some 12million tons of plastic waste are dumped in the oceans each year, creating ‘floating continents’ of junk.
THE BBC is spending thousands of pounds on single-use cutlery – despite its own Blue Planet series warning of the damage plastic causes in the world’s oceans.
Figures from the corporation reveal it spent £15,389 on plastic cutlery for its canteens in the last financial year.
The final episode of Blue Planet II last year showed an albatross chick dying after eating a plastic toothpick. The BBC has pledged to scrap all plastic cups and cutlery by the end of this year.