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UK plans to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042
 by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) Jan 10, 2018


UK lawmakers back tax on disposable coffee cups
London (AFP) Jan 5, 2018 - British lawmakers called on the government Friday to impose a charge on disposable coffee cups and set a target to recycle all of them by 2023 -- or ban them altogether.

Around 2.5 billion plastic-lined paper cups are used in Britain each year, but less than one in 400 are recycled, MPs on the environmental audit committee warned in a new report.

"Coffee cup producers and distributors have not taken action to rectify this and government has sat on its hands," said committee chairwoman Mary Creagh, calling for a "revolution in recycling".

The report proposed a 25 pence (0.28 euro, $0.34) "latte levy" on disposable coffee cups, saying the money raised could be used to improve recycling facilities.

Coffee cups are difficult to recycle, due to the plastic liner which makes them waterproof.

The MPs urged ministers to set a target that all such cups be recycled by 2023, and "if this target is not achieved, the government should ban disposable coffee cups".

Several leading coffee shop chains in Britain, including the largest, Costa, offer discounts for customers who use their own re-usable cups.

Pret A Manger, which has 329 sandwich shops across the country, this week doubled its discount to 50p.

But Creagh warned that such discounts had found to be "ineffective" -- unlike charges, noting the success of a recent levy on plastic bags in England, which reduced their use by 83 percent in the first year.

Coffee chain Starbucks on Friday announced plans to introduce a 5p cup charge in around 20-25 of its shops in London that will go to environmental charities, saying that it too, had found discounts ineffective.

The three-month trial, beginning in February, will be a global first for the company, a spokeswoman said.

Starbucks said it has offered discounts for using re-usable cups since 1998, starting at 10p and rising to 50p for a few months in 2016.

"We found that this did not move the needle in the way we thought it might. We now have 1.8 percent of our customers using reusable cups," it said in a statement.

In the trial, "we will be exploring the impact that a cup charge may have in changing behaviour in addition to the measures we, and the whole industry, are taking on cup recycling", Starbucks said.

Britain plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years, Prime Minister Theresa May will announce Thursday as part of long-term plans for the environment.

The government wants supermarkets to introduce plastic-free aisles and intends to inject new funding into plastics innovation, she will say in a speech outlining proposals.

Meanwhile changes to the tax system and charges on single-use plastic items such as takeaway containers will also be considered, according to May's Downing Street office, which released a preview of her remarks.

"In years to come, I think people will be shocked at how today we allow so much plastic to be produced needlessly," May will say.

"One million birds, and over 100,000 other sea mammals and turtles die every year from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste. One in three fish caught in the English Channel contains pieces of plastic.

"This truly is one of the great environmental scourges of our time."

However, opposition leaders and environmental campaigners were quick to condemn the proposals as dangerously insufficient.

Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the fourth-biggest party in parliament, said Britain should be "eliminating all avoidable plastic waste now -- a target of 2042 beggars belief".

Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said the measures "don't match the scale of the environmental crisis we face.

"The overall plastics plan lacks urgency, detail and bite," she said.

"The most glaring gap is support for deposit return schemes" on plastic bottles, Edge added.

"We just can't wait another 25 years before eliminating throwaway plastic."

Among its proposals, the government intends to encourage supermarkets to introduce plastic-free aisles in which all the food is loose, giving consumers the choice of doing without the plastic wrapping.

Meanwhile a five pence (seven US cents, six euro cents) charge on plastic carrier bags will be extended to all retailers in England.

It already applies elsewhere in Britain and to larger stores in England.

Downing Street said it would examine how the tax system or charges could encourage industry to take more responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products, with a consultation on reducing the volume of single-use plastics starting next month.

"The UK will demonstrate global leadership. We must reduce the demand for plastic, reduce the number of plastics in circulation and improve our recycling rates," May will add.

"To tackle it we will take action at every stage of the production and consumption of plastic."

Britain will direct some of its international development aid towards tackling pollution and reducing plastic waste abroad.

It will also seek to strike an accord with the Commonwealth on reducing plastic waste in the oceans when it hosts the group's biennial summit in April.

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