LET’S TURN THE TIDE ON PLASTIC
As a report reveals beaches are getting worse and two supermarket chains back our bottle deposit campaign ...
WASHED up by the tide, ugly piles of discarded bottles scar an otherwise magnificent beach.
The appalling scene at Compton on the Isle of Wight is testament to a throwaway culture that has left our beauty spots choking in plastic.
Nearly 1,000 pieces of litter are discarded for every 100 metres of coastline – with single-use containers most at fault.
And the volume of rubbish has soared 10 per cent in the past year, according to an audit by the Marine Conservation Society. The charity demanded a plastics tax as:
Two supermarkets joined calls for a deposit and return scheme for disposable bottles;
Iceland and the Co-op broke ranks, citing the blight of litter and pollution;
The Natural History Museum announced it would stop selling single-use bottles;
It said it wanted to help ‘reduce the deluge of plastic into our seas’.
The decision by Iceland and the Co-op is the first sign that opposition from high street chains to a deposit scheme is weakening. The British Retail Consortium, which speaks for major stores, has been at the forefront of secret efforts to lobby ministers to kill off the proposal.
Now some of its own members insist evidence from other countries shows the idea works to boost recycling. There are signs other stores – such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer – are coming round to the idea.
Richard Walker, Iceland’s director for sustainability, said: ‘Every minute, a truckload of plastic waste enters our oceans. In Britain, we are failing to recycle up to 16million single-use plastic bottles every day.
‘This cannot carry on. It is causing untold damage to our oceans and wildlife. It is also a ticking time bomb for humanity, since we all ultimately depend on healthy oceans for our own survival. Deposit return schemes work. In Norway, theirs has led to 96 per cent of all bottles being returned. Britain urgently needs to do the same.’
The Marine Conservation Society warned the country was ‘choking in plastic’ after its audit highlighted the waste found on 339 stretches of UK coastline. It pointed to a 27 per cent increase in plastic or polystyrene items – such as cups, plastic bottles and chocolate bar wrappers – since 2008.
Items classed as ‘ on-the-go’, including straws and plastic cutlery made up a fifth of litter discovered in the annual survey.
The problem has been highlighted by distressing scenes in the BBC wildlife series Blue Planet II, which portrayed the death of a whale believed to be poisoned by plastic, and turtles trapped in plastic waste.
This month researchers at Newcastle University revealed that creatures in the deepest ocean depths had been found with plastic in their stomachs.
Tiny crustaceans living almost seven miles down at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific, had swallowed microscopic plastic fragments.
Earlier this week upsetting pictures emerged showing an otter in Dorset with a plastic cable tie stuck around its body.
Lizzie Prior, the Marine Conservation Society’s beach and river clean project officer, said: ‘The 5p single-use carrier bag charge has made a massive difference to the number of plastic bags entering our seas.
‘If a levy was placed on single-use plastic such as straws, stirrers, cutlery, cups and cup lids, we’re confident that we’d find fewer of these items on our beaches.’
The Natural History Museum said it would now encourage visitors to use water fountains and refillable bottles.
Research by the institution’s scientists with Royal Holloway University of London has revealed the extent of unseen plastic pollution in the Thames and levels of plastics in the stomachs of fish in the river.
‘It’s vital that scientific institutions like the museum lead the way in the fight to understand and protect the natural world,’ said Professor Ian Owens, its director of science. ‘The scale of ongoing plastic pollution is having a devastating effect on many marine species and the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth. Millions of single use plastic bottles are purchased every day in the UK alone, and billions end up in the sea every year.’
The Oval cricket ground in South London has also said it aims to go plastic-free in the next three years.
The Daily Mail has been at the forefront of campaigning, including for the launch of a Take Back Your Bottles initiative. A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: ‘We are taking significant steps to tackle plastic waste including plans to introduce a ban on plastic microbeads, taking nine billion plastic bags out of circulation with our carrier bag charge and the launch of a call for evidence around deposit reward and return schemes for plastic bottles and other drinks containers.
‘We recognise there is more to do in this area, and we will be working with industry to explore how we
can further reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste.’
The Government promised in the Budget to examine taxes on plastic and Environment Secretary Michael Gove is considering a deposit and return scheme.