Shops must cut wasteful packaging
April 27, 2007 10:00 AM
David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, has co-sponsored a bill in Parliament to require all large shops to accept packaging returned by customers.
David commented:
"Over half of the household waste produced in our homes every year is from packaging. Commercial wrapping and packaging is very difficult to recycle, particularly at the household level, and so it fills up our bins and our landfill sites.
"Packaging alone costs the average family £470 each year. This is a ridiculous state of affairs.
"The Bill will make store stores like Tesco and Asda accept packaging returned by customers. It puts the responsibility back on to the retailer. They will soon discover just how difficult much of their packaging is to recycle. This should encourage them to use less packaging, resulting in less waste.
"Germany and Switzerland have both introduced similar laws which have been very successful in persuading manufacturers and suppliers to cut down packaging, saving money and landfill space."
David Howarth examines wasted packaging
The Retail Packaging Recycling Bill has been presented to Parliament.
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