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Aparna K
More than 40 large enterprises operating in the UK, including Coca-Cola, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado, Marks & Spencer, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, signed an agreement to get rid of one-off plastic in packaging by 2025. Now these companies account for up to 80% of plastic bags in British stores.
Initially, the initiative, called the UK Plastics Pact, was made by the non-profit organization WRAP. The initiative is aimed at creating new business models, in which the use of disposable packaging is significantly reduced or at least is made of plastic that can be recycled and reused. Marcus Gover, the head of the WRAP, stated: "This requires a large-scale transformation of the entire system of plastic use and can be achieved only if all links of the chain unite for this."
According to the European Commission, about 40% of the use of plastic in Europe falls precisely on packaging. In the UK, only 46% of the packaging is made from recyclable material. In view of this, companies that are included in the pact, undertake:
• To eliminate complex or unnecessary disposable plastic packaging by improving design or alternative delivery models for processing;
• To create conditions under which up to 70% of plastic packaging will be recycled or composted, and 30% of all plastic packaging will contain recycled material;
• To achieve by 2025 that 100% of plastic packaging can either be used repeatedly, or processed, or composted.
According to the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Arctic ice contains a record number of plastic micro particles. A study conducted by the AWI shows that one liter of Arctic ice contains up to 12,000 micro particles of plastic. In January, the EU leadership announced that it is considering the introduction of a tax on plastic bags. Several countries, including France, Kenya and Ethiopia, have already banned the use of plastic bags, and such regional prohibitions already operate in some other countries (for example, Belgium and the United Kingdom). The government of the UK has also previously submitted a 25-year plan to reduce the amount of plastic waste.
source: independent.co.uk
