Please help us to cut plastic pollution

BETWEEN May 16 and May 22, Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic are running the Big Plastic Count, the UK’s biggest-ever investigation into household plastic waste and what really happens to our recycling.

We need to take much faster action to clean up the plastic pollution which spoils many areas and harms our climate, nature and health.

Exporting our waste is having a devastating impact on communities our waste is being sent to. Wales’ “world-class” recycling rates of over 65% are a nonsense when most people don’t realise our recycling is exported to countries who are unable to cope with it. I was shocked to discover the UK exported 698,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste in 2020 – almost twice as much as was recycled in the UK.

Equally, it’s devastating to see so much plastic littering our streets, much of which makes its way into the ocean, threatening our marine life. The litter I notice on the streets seems to come from supermarkets – must everything I buy, including things like bananas, be wrapped in plastic?

Then there’s the issue of packaging which has blown out of bins on recycling day. There are ways to avoid this, but it would be better if we didn’t create so much single-use plastic in the first place, for example, if we could take our drinks bottles back to the shop and receive a small refund.

Greenpeace volunteers have been acting on plastic pollution for years, including handing back single-use plastic to supermarkets.

We, like lots of other citizens are trying to do our bit, but government, supermarkets and brands need to do theirs to cut plastic too.

We would like as many people as possible to take part in the Big Plastic Count. Anyone can join in, so please up to join us here: thebigplasticcount.com/join-in

Clare James Cardiff