Warning on rise in single-use plastics

A LOCAL authority has approved a raft of measures to reverse the proliferation of single-use plastics.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive agreed rather than delay plastic-cutting initiatives until a detailed action plan could be developed, the authority would put in place some “quick wins”, such as awareness campaigns.

The authority’s leaders had heard the conclusions of a comprehensive inquiry led by Coun David Goode, who told them Covid-19 had led to “a massive but unavoidable increase in the use of single-use plastic”.

Environmentalists have pointed towards a rise in litter, especially of single-use plastic such as bottles and single-use masks which contain plastic and cannot be recycled, since the start of the pandemic.

It has been forecast that the resurgence of single-use plastics will continue this year, with high demand for protective items and heavily packaged products and food for hygiene purposes, and increased use of plastics in hospitals and public facilities.

Coun Goode told the executive: “Hopefully this is a relatively short-term issue and should not be considered an excuse for taking action now.”

He said the inquiry had recognised that eliminating single-use plastic would be impossible at the moment, but actions could be taken to significantly reduced the amount being used.

However, the inquiry’s report concluded the pandemic should not be a reason to row back on commitments to reduce singleuse plastics overall.

It highlighted how the World Economic Forum had noted Covid-19 was a known risk that policymakers chose to ignore and other well-known threats should not remain unaddressed.