Welcome for bid to tax throwaway plastic packaging polluting river

CAMPAIGNERS for a cleaner Thames today welcomed moves to tax throwaway plastics that are now the biggest polluter of London’s river.

The Treasury will look into whether punitive taxes could cut down on mountains of waste finding their way into waterways and oceans.

Oysters and fish in the Thames estuary have been found tainted by fragments of plastic packaging as well as microbeads used in some cosmetics.

Plastic mineral water bottles are one of the worst forms of litter in the river, says environmental campaign group Thames21, which carries out regular surveys of the foreshore. “Plastic in the Thames is a ticking time bomb, with up to 75 per cent of bottom-dwelling fish found to have plastic in their guts,” said the group.

“Thames21 volunteers remove an average of 200 tonnes of waste every year from the river, so we support efforts to reduce the ridiculous amount of unnecessary plastic packaging currently in the system.”

Under today’s measures, the Government will issue a call for evidence on how taxes and charges can cut the most environmentally-damaging, single-use plastics. It could mean a charge on plastic coffee cups, bubble wrap and packaging — echoing the 5p plastic carrier bag charge that has slashed usage.

More than one million birds and over 100,000 other sea mammals and turtles die every year from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste.