Hemel MP joins war on plastic

Sir Mike has joined a campaign to encourage schools and local councils to get tough on plastic by supporting a proposed law to reduce plastic and ensure producers, not council tax payers, pay for recycling.

Sir Mike was among dozens of MPs to support the new Plastics Bill, which would ensure all plastic is recyclable by 2025 and make producers pay for the cost of recycling.

Sir Mike said: “It’s a crucial time to get serious about cutting out plastic in our communities and reducing its production and use.

“If the Plastics Bill becomes law, we will ensure that plastic producers instead of local council tax payers pay for the cost of recycling plastic.

“With a daughter who is a marine biologist and, like many others, having watched David Attenborough’s Blue Planet, I believe the UK needs to take a world-leading position in dealing with the plastics crisis.

“Locally, we need to set an example by reducing our own plastic consumption in schools, at work and in the council and I’ll be playing my part with this as well as speaking up in Parliament.

“Currently 90 per cent of the cost of plastic recycling is paid by our local council taxpayers, so I’m supporting the Plastics Bill so the producer pays instead. This will encourage producers to innovate and reduce plastic pollution.”

More than 200 schools across the UK have already signed up to the Plastic Free Schools programme run by Surfers Against Sewage.

The Plastics Bill would make the UK a global leader in helping save our marine environment and ecosystems, by requiring that all plastics in the UK are recyclable by 2025, instead of 2042 as currently proposed.