Invest in invention and the environment
In the wake of Storm Eleanor, the Cornish coast was smothered in disgusting plastic waste – a damning indictment of how much we consume and how poorly it is disposed of. The Prime Minister’s determination to rid Britain of avoidable plastic waste within 25 years will therefore chime with readers sick of wrapped bananas and cauliflowers, of the excessive use of items that can take more than 400 years to biodegrade. Some 35 million plastic bottles are thrown away every year in the UK alone – and, thanks to a Chinese import ban, it is Britain that has to find some way of dealing with them.
Most consumers will be only too willing to help. The swift manner in which Britons have adjusted to the 5p plastic bag levy shows there is an appetite for taking personal responsibility. For a Tory Party worried about losing younger voters to Labour, here is an obvious chance to build a coalition of old and young, united in concern for the ocean and its creatures.
That said, one should always be conscious of the law of unintended consequences, as Fraser Nelson writes opposite. Those “plastic bags for life” that many supermarkets now sell, for instance, last longer because they are thicker, and thus require more carbon to produce and have to be used 14 times before they are an environmentally friendly alternative – proof that this is a very complicated issue. And if politicians are encouraging us to be more mindful of how we shop, that is a worthy challenge, but they also desperately need to raise their own game. Westminster Council recycles only 16 per cent of the waste it collects and burns 82 per cent. Local governments need to invest in recycling facilities that are better advertised, designed and properly managed.
As with so many environmental issues, a healthy future lies as much in technological change as it does in changing habits. Energy should go into developing plastic products that can be recycled in new ways – and why not encourage innovation with state-sponsored prizes and honours? So often in history, a prophecy of doom has been countered with genius, risk and investment, all of which have helped us to adapt and thrive even as the world’s population grows and the planet seems smaller. Having an environment department, such as Michael Gove’s, that is ambitious is good, but the state has rarely been the salvation of mankind. Capitalism and science remain good friends to the environment.