UK households are throwing away an estimated 1.7 billion pieces of plastic packaging each week – equal to 90 billion pieces a year – according to the results of the attest UK household plastic waste survey, The Big Plastic Count.
The results – now published online at The Big Plastic Count – highlight the UK as the second most wasteful (behind only the US) when it comes to plastic packaging.
This year’s figure remains consistent with the initial Big Plastic Count made in 2022, suggesting that little progress has been made by retailers and brands in reducing plastic packaging overall.
It’s an especially poignant result when we look at what is happening with all that waste. According to Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic UK both of which conducted the survey in partnership with the University Portsmouth’s Revolution Plastics Institute only 17% of the plastic collected in the UK is recycled domestically.
An overwhelming 58% of plastic packaging waste is incinerated, while 14% is exported to countries with even poorer recycling facilities. The remaining 11% is landfilled. According to the research, the percentage being incinerated in the UK has increased as the cost of sending plastic to landfill has increased. In 2022, 46% of plastic packaging was being burned. That’s risen to 58% today.
Carried out between March 11 and 17 2024, the Big Plastic Count involved nearly 225,000 individuals and several members from community groups and businesses across the UK. According to the survey, each household throws away an average of 60 pieces of plastic packaging a week, totalling a national average of 1.7 billion.
Despite efforts made by brands to reduce plastic packaging, the results speak of the stark reality of the current situation.
Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic are now urging the UK government and supermarkets to commit to a legally binding target in the global Plastics Treaty negotiations to reduce plastic production by at least 75% by 2040.
Greenpeace UK political campaigner, Rudy Schulkind, said: “This year, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally secure a global, legally binding target to radically reduce plastic production, but it will only deliver the kind of progressive action needed if countries like the UK push for plastic production to be reduced by at least 75% by 2040.”
The call to action includes demands to expedite the introduction of reuse and refill models through Extended Producer Responsibility laws; banning plastic waste exports; implementing a deposit return scheme; and halting approvals for new incineration facilities.
The Big Plastic Count 2024 comes ahead of the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) meetings for a Global Plastics Treaty to be held in Ottawa, Canada this month. Recent polling from Greenpeace International found that 74% of UK residents agree that to stop plastic pollution, we need to cut plastic production. The polling found that 69% of UK residents support the Global Plastics Treaty agreeing a reduction in plastic production to stop biodiversity loss and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius.
“It’s clear from these results that the plastic waste problem is not getting any better and that recycling is not going to solve it. New thinking around packaging choices, backed up by legislation, is urgently needed,” said Dr Cressida Bowyer, deputy director of the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth.
“The negotiations for the Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution in Canada next week present a critical opportunity to galvanize change. The Revolution Plastics Institute will be attending negotiations and will be sharing these important results with policy and decision makers.”
