CAMPAIGN FOR ZERO WASTE - Supermarkets and oil companies have a lot to answer for. Politicians must explain why they let the retailers and fossil fuel industry get away with a practice they know to be harmful to marine life. Companies are largely driven by money and greed, their shareholders often kept in the dark. All the while millions of seabirds are dying, polar bears are playing with plastic and even shellfish have become inedible in some locations. This is morally unsound! Landfill sites are not a good thing in any event, but including plastic is a practice that should be outlawed.

The very existence of supermarkets encourages producers to seek ways of presenting their goods to compete for trade and vie for cost savings, to get the customers. And it must be said that plastic is useful for wrapping produce to keep it fresh, and the lure into unsustainable practices is understandable. But that was before we realised that we are poisoning the marine environment, and the fish that feed a substantial proportion of people around the world, upsetting the Blue Economy, where in the face of population growth and desertification, the sea is a valuable resource.

Equally, many consumer goods are packaged in large cardboard boxes, but then cushioned for transit with Styrofoam (expander polystyrene) and wrapped in polythene bags, etc. These goods include televisions, computers, white goods, cycles. And that many of these goods are supplied mail order, via internet shopping sites.

We therefore propose:

ARTICLE 5 (DRAFT)

1. That local authorities should work with retail outlets (such as supermarkets, Ebay and Amazon, Curry's) to collect, sort and recycle plastic waste such as PET & polythene bottles, caps, bags, and polystyrene, etc., rather then burn it, or send it to landfill sites.

2. That plastic waste should be banned in landfill sites, and exporting waste to third party countries should also be banned, such that each country (geographical region) is responsible for its own mess. Granted, that many countries are now refusing to accept plastic waste.

3. That recyclable materials should be used in preference to hard to crack plastics.

4. That conventional recycling of plastics should be stepped up to include more recovered material in new single use packaging, alongside virgin feedstock.

5. That high temperature, pyrolysis, treatment to recover plastic (feedstocks) should be adopted to crack difficult to recycle plastic packaging. This process typically leaving a residue of around 5%, some of which can be used for pigments.

6. That each geographical region should install and share one such pyrolysis (type) unit, or otherwise include recycled plastics in new products, in proportion to the waste in their administrative area.

7. In tandem with negotiating with supermarket chains, we should identify and target the makers of poorly packaged items, naming and shaming, but before that asking them to change their ways on a voluntary basis. We anticipate stiff resistance to change that will come from the introduction of such a scheme, requiring rigid enforcement.

8. That local authorities that fail to adequately monitor and provide such recycling facilities, should be subject to plastic tax for offsetting purposes, as per Article 7, such that better performing authorities may benefit from credits, especially where one district (allowably) takes the waste from another, but may not be exported to another country, save for uncontaminated waste, in line with the Basel Convention.

9. That synthetic textiles (clothing) is to be included as plastic waste for the purposed of recycling. (textiles being almost 100% recyclable.

Some makers sell their produce based on exotic plastic packaging. One example is Ferrero chocolates that feature elaborate transparent casings, where printed cardboard can be just as appealing. Another is Cadbury's Fingers, where a plastic tray is wrapped in plastic, inside a cardboard box. One example of responsible packaging comes from McDonalds, where their burgers are wrapped in paper, or cardboard boxes, and come in paper bags. Well done and make mine a Double Big Mac to celebrate, with a clean conscience. Except of course for the beef, that should be ingested in moderation, given that we'll not be able to eat fish much longer. But that's another story, where we advocate no meat Mondays and vegetarian Sundays.