The Liberal Democrats will set out a raft of policies as part of a radical plan to end the UK’s reliance on plastic.

The UK produces 2.26 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year.

Less than half of this is being recycled. 

The Conservatives claimed they will cut plastic pollution. They announced a deposit return scheme in 2018, but it is currently due to be implemented by 2023. 

In reality, all the Tories have done is try to get headlines with piecemeal bans on straws and stirrers. 

The Liberal Democrats demand better for our environment. We need a rapid plan to eliminate plastic pollution if our seas are to recover from the damage we’ve done.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are proposing a radical plan that will end the UK’s reliance on plastic. 

We will ban all non-essential, single-use plastics within the first three years of government. 

Our other policies include:

• Requiring all retailers to reduce the amount of plastics and non-recyclable packaging they use:
  • The average UK home produces 1.1kg of waste every day. The duty should be placed on retailers to ensure that this is reduced.
• Implementing a deposit return scheme: 
  • This will aim to end the 15 million bottles that are littered, landfilled and incinerated daily in the UK.
• Ending plastic exports abroad by 2030:
  • In 2018 the UK exported 0.6 million tonnes of plastic waste. It often ends up in landfill, defeating the purpose of exporting it abroad.

Under the Liberal Democrats, no plastic put into a bin in the UK will end up in our oceans. By declaring war on plastic, the Liberal Democrats will ensure a brighter future for our planet.