City to Sea, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation, has submitted an open letter to the country’s political parties demanding stronger action against single-use plastics.
The letter has been signed by more than 35 brands, celebrity supporters, and non-profit organisations such as Greenpeace UK, Environmental Investigation Agency, Oceana UK, Ocean Bottle, the Gallifrey Foundation, Dizzie, KeepCup, the University of West England, and Recirculate Systems, among others.
Delivered to the primary political parties (Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat) ahead of the country's impending general election, the letter calls for legislative changes to promote reuse and refill solutions, support a Global Plastics Treaty, and set legally binding reuse targets to reduce plastic waste.
City to Sea has criticised the UK's apparent slow pace of moving away from single-use packaging and is asking its next leaders to support the target of at least 30% of packaging to be reusable by 2030.
The organisation points out that single-use plastic packaging is the main contributor to plastic pollution in the UK, with domestic households discarding a total of nearly two billion pieces each week.
As political parties gear up for the general election on 4 July, City to Sea is pressing them to incorporate measures to tackle plastic pollution into their campaign manifestos.
The group's reuse manifesto is a central part of this advocacy, calling for a national shift towards systems that eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging.
Greenpeace UK political campaigner Rudy Schulkind said: “The public are rightly furious and want change. That’s why over 200,000 came together through The Big Plastic Count to reveal that 1.7 billion pieces of plastic are thrown away each week - and only 17% is recycled.
“The next government has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn the tide by introducing binding reuse targets in the UK and to lead on the world stage by securing a Global Plastics Treaty that cuts production.”
