Plastic ban is only way to solve crisis
I was horrified to read your front page article on how we send our unwanted plastic to Bangladesh where children, some as young as seven, are paid a pittance to sift through tons of filth (June 25).
To think of those kids shoeless, working in the heat for 12 hours a day on a site that could kill them, and for such a small wage, is nothing short of abject slavery.
Children should be at school getting an education so they can build a better life for themselves.
Why are we sending our waste plastic to Bangladesh when we should be disposing of it here in the UK? It’s 2018 and surely we must be able to work out a way to get rid of or reuse plastic apart from shipping it to another country so that it becomes their problem and not ours. We must stop sending waste to countries like Bangladesh.
Sharon Perkins Isle Of Sheppey, Kent
The Mirror is absolutely right. Britain dumping our plastic waste 5,000 miles away for recycling by exploiting children is exporting, not solving, a problem. Reading Tom Parry’s article on how seven-yearold Mahfuz, one of the many children working 12-hour shifts for 30p an hour, was forced to pick through sewage, food wrapping, building materials and foam packaging left me sickened and utterly ashamed to be British.
Eric Thorpe Salford Gtr Manchester
I was appalled to read your story about children in Bangladesh being paid a pittance to rummage through mountains of our plastic waste.
We must cut down drastically on our consumption of single-use plastics, starting with supermarkets’ excessive use of packaging, and we need to recycle at home.
Morrisons reintroducing paper bags for fruit and veg is a step in the right direction. (Mirror, June 27).
C White Bridgwater, Somerset
Why does nobody challenge the supermarkets for their casual attitude to plastic?
I work for a wellknown store and about 90% of customers ask for a plastic bag, even though most of the produce is already wrapped in plastic.
It’s up to the supermarkets to stop this over-use of plastic.
Carol Foley, Preston
With regard to the problem of plastic waste, a total ban on all plastic packaging, with no half-hearted measures, is the only answer. And it should be done now. In the meantime, every person who cares deeply about saving our wildlife should get together and pick up as much plastic as we possibly can from our beaches and elsewhere.
Anna Blackmore, Canterbury
With regard to your article ‘Britain’s plastic shame’, why don’t we follow Sweden’s example and burn waste plastic to make energy? They even buy rubbish from other countries to burn.
Jamie Veale Swansea
Yes, we should stop sending our unwanted plastic waste to Bangladesh and find our own solution to recycling, but the reality is that doing so would end the only means of income for thousands of Bangladeshis.
Ron Wilson Newcastle upon Tyne