Household plastic waste footprint increased in lockdown, survey finds

British households have created an increasing amount of plastic waste in lockdown, a survey of the problem suggests.

A total of 483 people across the UK stored up and recorded their household’s plastic waste for a week as part of the Everyday Plastic Survey during lockdown, collecting almost 23,000 pieces of rubbish between them.

It found households got through 128 bits of plastic waste in a week on average, up from 99 in similar surveys conducted before lockdown.

More than two-thirds of the plastic waste, 68%, came from food and drink products, and just a fraction of the entire collection would end up being recycled in the UK, the scheme’s founder Daniel Webb said.

Mr Webb began to look at the plastic waste issue in 2017, collecting, counting and analysing every piece of plastic rubbish he got through for a year.

In 2018 he launched Everyday Plastic, with a household survey as a way to connect individuals with the scale of the global plastic problem, and has been running a special lockdown version of the project.

Participants collect and record a week’s worth of their household plastic waste before submitting their data to get their own personal plastic footprint, with a breakdown of what they throw away and where it goes.

The lockdown survey has taken place over the last three months, with 483 participants from 179 households collecting 22,891 pieces of waste.

Almost two-thirds, 65%, was soft, thin, filmy plastic which is rarely recycled in the UK.

Only 37% of the pieces of plastic waste that were collected are considered to be recyclable by councils and only 5% would end up actually being recycled in the UK, Mr Webb said.

In total, those taking part collected 1,960 pieces of fruit and vegetable packaging, and 2,951 snack wrappers.

The highest amount of plastic used and collected in a week by a household was 734 pieces, and the lowest was just 17, with the average coming in at 128.