Call for cull of single use plastics

Renfrewshire residents are demanding laws to reduce single-use plastics in their daily lives.

They are among the four in five people surveyed from across the west of Scotland who said they would support increased regulations around single use items.

Their backing of tighter controls was unveiled following a survey commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland.

The environmental agency found that 72 per cent of respondents described themselves as being very or fairly concerned about the amount of items designed to be used only once.

Currently, an estimated 300 million plastic straws, 276 million pieces of plastic cutlery, 50 million plastic plates and 66 million polystyrene food containers are used annually in Scotland.

The survey, carried out by YouGov, coincides with a public consultation over plans to restrict some of the most environmentally damaging items in Scotland.

The items under review - including single-use plastic plates, straws and cutlery, polystyrene food and drink containers, and other products made from oxo-degradable plastic - are the most common items found on European beaches.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “While plastic can be incredibly useful and beneficial in a number of areas, it also can cause significant damage to our environment if it isn’t disposed of properly.

“Scots are increasingly concerned about the impacts of disposable single-use items and can see how it is impacting on the country’s natural environment.

“Most of us don’t‘need’many of these single-use items being consulted on.

“By choosing reusables over disposables we can still have the benefit without the needless waste and carbon emissions.”