Governments, corporations and individuals have a responsibility to reduce and reuse as well as recycle, writes Struan Stevenson.
We are still using too much plastic in our food packaging in Scotland.
Every year in the UK, over 2.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging enters the consumer market. On average, each person in Scotland produces around 400lbs of packaging waste annually. In fact, around 40% of all plastics and 50% of all paper produced are destined for packaging.
Some of the most widely used plastics are non-recyclable, while others complicate the recycling process. But, confronted with a large quantity of packaging materials, it is hard for consumers to know what do to.
The campaign group Rethink Plastic claims food and drink companies are the worst offenders for plastic pollution, with “Coca-Cola remaining consistently the world’s worst plastic polluter by a significant margin, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Mondelez International”.
In England, the government is seeking to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury are seeking to “design out” packaging that is unnecessary or difficult to recycle. The Scottish Government should follow suit.
Under UK-wide plans, producers will be responsible for the waste created by their products, and tasked with ensuring that more packaging is made recyclable or reusable. This will cut the volume currently sent to landfill or for incineration, and reduce litter on our streets, parks and beaches.
UK should follow EU’s example and set ambitious targets
In Brussels, the European Commission has caused uproar in the food and drink sector, proposing that 5% of wine bottles should be reused by 2030, and 15% by 2040.
Only 5% of plastic in packaging came from recycled sources in 2019, according to industry group Plastics Europe, and recyclers face an uphill battle to sell secondary materials in a market dominated by cheaper and higher-quality virgin plastic supplies. To tackle this, Brussels is expected to boost the demand for recycled plastic.
Despite Brexit, it is hoped that the UK will follow the EU’s example. The Westminster and Scottish Governments can either send a strong signal to the packaging industry, encouraging it to move towards waste-free and resource protection practices, or they can maintain the status quo, with business-as-usual wasteful practices.
Ambitious targets are necessary if we are to tackle this problem. Greater reuse will reduce energy and resource use, and lead to less waste and fewer CO2 emissions.
Although recycling is better for the environment than sending our rubbish to landfill, the process still creates carbon emissions
Although recycling is better for the environment than sending our rubbish to landfill, the process still creates carbon emissions. So, the best thing we can do is reduce the number of products we consume, and try to reuse what we already have.
Struan Stevenson was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014. He is an author, CEO of Scottish Business UK and a director of the European Bureau for Conservation and Development
Conversation