Campaigners have slammed the government for a “year of inaction” on the environment, after accusing Defra of failing to meet its commitments in the war on plastic.
Environmental groups City to Sea and 38 Degrees said the government had still not banned some of the most polluting single-use plastics, such as plastic cutlery, a year after launching a consultation on moves to reduce plastic pollution.
More than 50,000 members of the public responded to the consultation via the two organisations – with the overwhelming majority calling for a ban to be introduced as quickly as possible.
The campaigners said England now stood as the only country in Europe without legislation in place to ban polluting single-use plastics such as plastic plates, cutlery and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food containers.
All the items were included in the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive and have been banned across the EU since July 2021. Meanwhile, Scotland has introduced a law banning these items and Wales has published its draft legislation.
The group said with the government’s proposed start date of April 2023 looming, they feared the deadline would be missed.
A petition organised by City to Sea and 38 Degrees saw over 118,000 sign up to demand action on banning plastic cutlery. It was handed into Downing Street by campaigners during the consultation period.
The call for action comes after the food industry’s efforts to reduce plastic were slammed as “unambitious” in a damning document by a group of MPs earlier this month.
The Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee claimed progress from supermarkets and suppliers had been too slow and hindered by ambiguous targets and a lack of transparency.
The report called for new measures including a complete ban on the export of plastic waste from the UK by 2027 and a toughening of the plastic tax that came in this year to increase the cost of using the material.
“We were promised a Green Brexit,” said City to Sea policy manager Steve Hynd. “Instead, we’re spending years chasing Defra to implement the very basic environmental standards that have been in place across Europe now for years. Their foot-dragging approach to tackling plastic pollution stands in stark contrast to the rhetoric of being ‘world leaders’ in tackling plastic pollution.”
Megan Bentall, head of campaigns at 38 Degrees, added: “The government asked what the public thought about banning these unnecessary and polluting plastic items, and the response couldn’t have been clearer. More than 50,000 people took the time to participate in a detailed consultation and yet, ever since, the government seems to have been dragging its feet.
“After a year of inaction – in which companies have continued to churn out harmful, polluting and wasteful plastics – it’s time to see a proper ban. The public overwhelmingly supports such a ban – and they won’t accept further delays.”
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