Nearly 27,000 in the South East sign up for UK’s biggest ever plastics investigation

ACALL has been made for people to count their plastic waste in a bid to help the environment. An estimated 27,000 people in the south east are taking part in The Big Plastic Count, and that total includes schools, MPs, community groups, businesses, families and individuals.

Organised by Everyday Plastic and Greenpeace UK, the project was launched in the wake of learning that the UK produces more plastic waste per person than any other country in the world apart from the United States.

The Big Plastic Count will reveal how much plastic packaging waste is leaving UK homes and what happens to it after we throw it away. This will provide a national snapshot of our plastic waste problem, filling a crucial evidence gap and showing the government and supermarkets that they must act to tackle the problem.

Among the backers are Chris Packham, Joanna Lumley and Bonnie Wright.

Mr Packham, a committed environmentalist, said: “The Big Plastic Count is such an exciting project. It will, for the first time, tell ordinary people what happens to their plastic waste after we throw it away, and we hope it will force the government to take action and address the plastic waste crisis.”

Every participant will record the different types of plastic packaging waste they throw away, and submit their results. This will generate a national picture of our plastic waste, demonstrating the scale of the problem and putting even more pressure on the government to act.

Chris Thorne, plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “We’re delighted that so many people across the South East signed up, making clear once again that the public is concerned about their plastic waste, and want to see genuine action from the government to turn the tide on our plastics crisis.

“That means an immediate end to us dumping our waste on other countries like Turkey, and legally binding targets that actually tackle the plastic problem at source.”

And Mr Webb, from Everyday Plastic, said he counted all plastic waste he collected in 2017, which shocked him into creating The Big Plastic Count.

“This really is a crucial moment in the struggle against the plastic problem.

“We hope the results of The Big Plastic Count will persuade the government, supermarkets and big brands to take bold steps to tackle the plastic crisis once and for all, which is extremely exciting, perhaps even revolutionary.”

Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic will release the results of the survey as soon as they have been processed. Campaigners hope these results will push the UK government to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025, ban all plastic waste exports and implement a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling and reuse.