Plastic piles up as more people stuck at home

A Kent eco-warrior has used lockdown to highlight the sheer volume of plastic waste in our everyday lives.

Daniel Webb made national headlines in 2018 after collecting the plastic he used for an entire year and transforming it into a huge mural.

The 38-year-old recently invited people to take part in a week of collecting every single piece of plastic that made its way into their households.

The experiment, titled Everyday Plastic: Lockdown Edition, revealed some shocking results.

He found on average 141 pieces of plastic were thrown away in a single week, an increase of more than 50% from the survey conducted before lockdown.

If all households across the UK threw away this amount, there would be a staggering 3.9 billion pieces of plastic waste every single week. Only 37% would be considered recyclable by councils, and only 5% would be recycled in this country.

He said: “The original idea was to help people at home who are either home schooling or on furlough to give them something to do, but also try to keep plastic pollution on the agenda.

“Instead of seeing plastic pollution just as a thing that affects the turtles in the Pacific Ocean, now they’re seeing it in their own home.”

Items that made up the bulk of the waste included wet wipes, fruit and veg wrapping, and snacks. The data was collected from 75 households across the UK, with some collecting only 17 pieces and others more than 700.

The campaigner said: “We saw quite a big increase of waste produced, basically because people are at home. People have to make the kid’s lunch, their own lunch, the snacks that they’re having.

“Almost 70% was food and packaging waste, and there were almost 1,500 snack wrappers.

“We can see where the main culprits are, and what that helps us do is give people tips on how to reduce waste by cutting down on pre-packaged snacks for example.”

Now, Mr Webb, who lives in Margate, is hoping people will sign up for the second round of surveys.

He said: “We want to help people gain a better understanding of the plastic problem and increase awareness.”

He eventually hopes to use the data to help supermarkets and food retailers reduce their plastic packaging.

To take part in the second survey, visit www.everydayplastic.org.

‘People have to make the kid’s lunch, their own lunch, the snacks that they’re having’

Participants Joe and Harry Clark with plastic they collected at home

Daniel Webb has been on a journey to reduce plastic waste