Compostable market news News

Nearly 90% of people call on UK government to support compostables as “solution to plastic crisis”

New data shows that the majority of UK adults support substituting conventional plastic with compostable alternatives and want local authorities and government to do more to incentivise the collection of compostable packaging. 

A survey of 1734 UK adults conducted by YouGov found 89% of respondents support local councils being required to collect all recyclable or compostable packaging from households.  

The survey also showed that over 60% of people across the UK expressed concern about the amount of plastic waste created in their households from daily life. 86% of people also supported enabling the collection of compostable packaging alongside food waste. 

The survey was commissioned by TIPA, a developer and manufacturer of compostable packaging solutions. 

In addition to improving collection services, the survey also canvassed views on a range of other policy interventions to support tackling plastic waste. 

Plastics are clogging up our seas and rivers with terrifying consequences for our marine life and the wider environment. 

85% of people supported banning conventional plastic packaging where alternative compostable solutions were available, with 70% of people viewing a product more positively when packaged in compostable packaging. 

When asked whether they felt Government, brands and retailers were making as much effort as possible (with 0 being the least and 10 being the most) to reduce plastic waste, the survey showed that over half of the public think the Government, brands and retailers are not doing enough to tackle plastic waste. 

Brands and retailers were deemed to be doing slightly more than the Government to reduce plastic waste with 44% rating the Government’s achievements as 5 or above, compared to 49% for brands and retailers. 

Commenting on the survey, Co-founder and CEO of TIPA, Daphna Nissenbaum, said: “Plastics are clogging up our seas and rivers with terrifying consequences for our marine life and the wider environment. They are now so pervasive that microplastics have even been detected in human blood. 

“It is encouraging to see such public support for compostables, but without government investment and the appropriate policy frameworks, the required collection infrastructure is unlikely to be in place to respond to overwhelming consumer appetite to mainstream compostable packaging. 

Nissenbaum says that the findings of the survey confirm that DEFRA would command “broad public support” if it introduced a new effective policy mandating the collection of compostable packaging alongside food waste across England to ensure that materials are composted at end of life. 

“If the Government is committed to achieving its plastic reduction targets by 2025 it should consider supporting the development and growth of the compostables industry – or risk handing the advantage to polluting conventional plastic.” 

(According to The Circular: https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/89-of-people-call-on-uk-government-to-support-compostables-as-a-solution-to-plastic-crisis/) 

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