Cut excess packaging say Liberal Democrats

2.45.41pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 19th Sep 2007

Liberal Democrats today called for legislation to compel supermarkets to provide waste points in store to allow customers to remove and deposit unwanted packaging.

Total domestic waste produced in Britain has increased 21% since 1997, to over 26 million tonnes and whilst household recycling in the UK has increased from 6% to 23%, but this has only managed to keep pace with the total increase. A large proportion of this waste, around 5 million tonnes, is made up of packaging and packaging accounts for around 17% of the average household food budget.

Current Government policies fail to address the need to cut the amount of packaging used by both suppliers and sales outlets, including supermarkets. The current Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations do not provide an effective basis for Trading Standards Offices to pursue legal proceedings in cases of excessive packaging.

The Liberal Democrats have therefore called for:

1. New legislation requiring supermarkets over 250 m2 in size to provide waste points in store, allowing customers to remove and deposit unwanted packaging before leaving the store.

2. Enforcement of excess packaging regulations by Trading Standards Offices to be improved through amendments to strengthen the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations.

3. The creation of a new national body with powers of prosecution to tackle large-scale producers of excess packaging in conjunction with local Trading Standards Offices.

4. Government action to secure commitments from supermarkets to participate in a deposit scheme for plastic carrier bags, charging consumers for bags and refunding them when bags are returned.

5. Encouragement to community initiatives such as the voluntary moratorium on plastic bags by local retailers in the town of Modbury and other schemes to improve their local environment.

6. The introduction of binding packaging reduction targets to be met by producers and retailers, in place of the current voluntary Courtauld Commitments.

7. Effective fiscal incentives to reduce excessive packaging and disposable products, introduced as part of the Liberal Democrat Environmental Incentive Programme.