The ugly reality of UK’S make-up waste

HEAVY use of make-up has made Britain among the worst plastic polluters in Europe, a new study suggests.

A report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) showed the UK uses more plastic cotton buds – 13.2billion a year – than any other European nation and was the second biggest user of crisp packets, getting through 8.3billion in 2018.

Britain uses the fifth highest number of single-use plastic items per person, with the use of make-up believed to be behind the high use of cotton buds used to remove it.

The report found that UK consumers could be throwing away a third more disposable drinks cups by 2030 unless action is taken to curb plastic waste. The amount of plastic waste produced is set to rise by a fifth by the end of the next decade – with a 34 per cent rise in crisp packets, 41 per cent more plastic straws and 9 per cent more drinks bottles.

The report was released today as buildings across the UK – including Buckingham Palace – were due to switch off their lights for an hour at 8.30pm to mark Earth Hour, a worldwide event to highlight the effect of pollution.

This year, UK residents will throw away 10.8billion wet wipes, 16.5 billion pieces of plastic cutlery, 42 billion straws and 4.1billion singleuse drinks cups and lids.

Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF said: “We are polluting our world with plastic, suffocating our oceans and overwhelming our wildlife. The amount of plastic which the UK is throwing away is set to rocket by over a million tonnes by 2030 – that’s the equivalent of 87,000 more double decker buses worth of plastic waste each year.”