PLASTIC? No Thanks

Plastic? No thanks - in the Independent, Saturday, 8 March 2008

Appalled by reports of environmental pollution, Catherine Eade and her family decided to try to live without buying anything packaged in plastic. One month on, they are finding the experiment both life-changing and soberingly difficult. Click the title (in blue, above) to read the whole article on the Independent's website.

Plastic: the facts

*Packaging represents the largest single sector of plastics use in the UK, accounting for 35 per cent of UK plastics consumption. Plastic is the material of choice in nearly half of all packaged goods.

* Packaging accounts for 60 per cent of household waste, and 11 per cent of household waste is plastic, 40 per cent of which is plastic bottles.

* On average, every household uses 500 plastic bottles each year, of which just 130 are recycled. The UK disposes of an estimated 13 billion plastic bottles per year.

* According to a 2001 Environment Agency report, 80 per cent of post-consumer plastic waste is sent to landfill, 8 per cent is incinerated and only 7 per cent is recycled.

* More than 80 per cent of plastic is used once and then thrown into landfill sites. More than 60 per cent of litter on beaches is plastic.

* We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago

* Plastics consumption is growing about 4 per cent every year in western Europe

* Plastic food packaging uses about 4 per cent of all crude oil.

* Reprocessor demand for plastics outstrips supply three times over