Scrap this pack!

Mike Pringle MSP has been quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News in their article on charging for plastic bags. Mike said:

“If we really want to get rid of plastic bags, the only way is a charge. To be honest, voluntary agreements never work. Australia managed to get a 34 per cent reduction (although this figure crept up again) but Ireland has managed to achieve a 93 per cent reduction through a compulsory levy. And the great thing is small shopkeepers will actually save money “

Scottish Liberal Democrats have backed proposals to tackle excess packaging set out by Jo Swinson MP at the party’s Spring Conference in Aviemore today.

Jo Swinson delivered a speech to the conference that set out proposals to combat over-packaging, including:

• Waste points in large supermarkets to allow consumers to remove and deposit packaging before they leave the store
• Better resourcing for Trading Standards officers to tackle producers of excess packaging
• Improved packaging regulations, so the law favours Trading Standards, not excess packaging producers
• The Scottish Executive to press the UK Government to bring in binding packaging reduction targets instead of the current voluntary targets

Speaking to the Liberal Democrat conference, Jo Swinson said:

“The average household in Scotland sends over a tonne of packaging – each – to landfill every year. Once there, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, fuelling climate change.

“Consumers are being ripped off – paying three times over for excess packaging. We pay the cost of the packaging at the checkout, we pay in increased council taxes and landfill taxes, and we will all be paying the environmental cost of more waste going to landfill for years to come.

“Today, prompted by the Daily Mail, the Prime Minister promised action on plastic bags. But what Gordon Brown needs to realise is that plastic bags are only the tip of the iceberg. Rather than media sound bites, we need real action. For a start, the Government could implement the measures I outlined in the Bill I presented to Parliament last year.

“What is really needed is a sustained movement by politicians, producers and the public towards greener packaging, and less packaging.”

The BBC is reporting that UK retail giant Mark & Spencer plans to charge customers 5p for each plastic carrier bag. Marks & Spencer have created an animation explaining their decision. The Newsnight blog comments on other countries efforts to reduce plastic bag use, with interesting comments in the discussion.

BBC Politics Show presenter, Peter Henley, interviews Martin Tod about excess packaging at the recent Liberal Democrat conference:

The Kirkintilloch Herald has highlighted Jo Swinson MP’s campaign to get supermarkets and other shops to cut down on unnecessary packaging in their article “Bid to Cut Waste“. The article reports on the cost of excess packaging to the average family, and the packaging reduction bill in Parliament.

Scotland on Sunday has reported on excess packaging activists from Friends of the Earth returning their unwanted packaging waste to the supermarkets. Jo Swinson MP backed the campaign saying:

“The public’s calls for Government action on excess packaging are getting louder and louder.

“I’m sure this weekend’s activities will leave supermarkets in no doubt about what their customers think of excess packaging.

“The Government has been too timid and too slow in tackling the packaging problem”

BBC News have also covered this story, with more of the action from Friends of the Earth Scotland.

Jo Swinson MP and Martin Tod, the prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, have launched ’scrap this pack’ to find the worst example of overpackaging in the UK.

Every year, UK households throw away five million tonnes of packaging. Much of this is needed to protect products - but too much of it is excessive packaging used to make products look bigger and more attractive on shelf.

To support Jo and Martin’s campaign, or submit an example of bad excess packaging, please fill out the form to the right.