Islwyn MP Chris Evans has met with young people to discuss the environmental impacts of plastic waste, as part of the Big Plastic Count’s Youth Empowerment Day.
The latest Big Plastic Count, in which tens of thousands of UK households counted up their plastic waste, revealed that we are throwing away an estimated 1.7 billion pieces of plastic every week. This puts the UK second only behind the US for production of plastic waste. Only 17% of this is recycled: over half is incinerated, releasing harmful greenhouse gases, with the rest being put in landfill or exported.
Chris Evans MP said:
‘It was great to meet young people who have brought their passion for the environment and reducing plastic waste to Parliament.
‘It’s shocking that every year in the UK we are throwing away 90 billion pieces of plastic. Incineration plants have a massive negative impact on local air quality, and relying on landfill or exporting waste to other countries is just not sustainable. This is why we have to start taking the important steps towards a zero-waste economy.’
