Sir John Whittingdale attended the Parliamentary drop-in event showcasing the results of The Big Plastic Count. The ‘Youth Empowerment Day’ event took place from 14:15 until 15:30 in Rooms R and S in Portcullis House and was hosted by Selaine Saxby MP and Lilian Greenwood MP.
Sir John was delighted to drop in and speak with children about plastic waste, particularly with Lewis from the Courtwood School in Croydon (pictured below). Sir John also met with campaigners and was happy to pledge his support for the campaign.
To find out more about The Big Plastic Count project and about the worst excesses of plastic production, please read the bullet points below.
Sir John is pictured with Lewis from Courtwood School, Croydon
What is The Big Plastic Count?
- It is huge citizen science project to count the amount of plastic we use and gain new insights into the amount that’s being burned, sent abroad, sent to landfill, and not recycled. This was notably covered in the Mail online recently.
- Results have revealed that 1.7 billion pieces of plastic waste are thrown away in the UK each week, with 58% of it going to incineration – and only 17% recycled.
- The project is backed by various organisations Everyday Plastics, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Surfers Against Sewage, Tearfund, Greenpeace and many others.
- Participants sign up, and then count all the plastic they throw away for a week – tallying the different types of plastic on a tally sheet, and then submitting the results online at the end of the week .
- Over 100,000 people from across every UK constituency are participating.
- The data collected will used to push the government to take an ambitious approach to the Global Plastics Treaty, with the next round of talks taking place at the end of April, including securing a legally binding, global target to cut plastic production.
More about this issue:
- Global plastic production has doubled from 2000 to 2019, reaching 460 million tonnes per year, and without action is anticipated to nearly triple by 2050 and projected to consume 13% or more of Earth’s remaining carbon budget to keep warming below 1.5°C. Plastic waste is already leaking into our oceans at an accelerating speed and creating a human health and nature and biodiversity crisis.
- At the same time, negotiations are going on for a new UN Global Plastics Treaty, which presents a once in a generation opportunity to reach a global agreement on cutting plastic production and ending single-use plastics.
- However, slow progress on the treaty thus far means we are in danger of passing up this opportunity.
- In order to align with our climate goals to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, The Big Plastic Count calls for the Global Plastics Treaty to agree a legally binding global target to reduce plastic production by 75% by 2040. This will only happen if countries like the UK, whose voice is listened to in the negotiations, shows leadership and ambition at the negotiations.
- With the next round of negotiations coming up in April, the UK needs to increase its ambition level and show leadership to make sure the treaty is as strong as possible – which is why The Big Plastic Count seeks to rally as much public and Parliamentary support now.
