PLASTIC BAGS AND PACKAGING - Greens want them phased out, Tories and Labour want to burn them

Green Party Councillors in Eastern Region are calling for plastics bags and non recyclable plastic packaging to be phased out quickly as evidence grows of the damage being caused to the environment, the climate and wildlife by plastic waste. The Green Party is supporting local communities in their campaigns to end the use of plastic bags and is calling for tougher legislation on manufacturers and retailers, so that bags and packaging become entirely reusable, recylable or biodegradable.

Meanwhile, Tory councils and the Labour Government are set to potentially increase reliance on plastics by backing a series of huge new incinerator plants across the region. These plants, which will operate for decades, will be heavily reliant on "residual" waste after recycling and composting have been carried out - waste which currently contains a high fraction of plastics. Greens have accused councils that are backing these plants of misleading the public - for example Tory controlled Essex County Council has described residual waste as a "renewable" fuel source which can help tackle climate change yet official guidance (Defra) classes most of such waste as equivalent to fossil fuel and studies have shown that stand alone incinerators (US EPA) are a significant addtional source of greenhouse gas emissions - adding to the threat of dangerous climate change.

Cllr. Dr. Rupert Read, Green Party Lead candidate for the 2009 European Elections said:

"Plastic bags are a serious environmental problem, chiefly because of their impact on our landscape and and upon the seas, where many of them end up. It is heartbreaking to hear stories of birds choking to death on plastic bags or dying from internal bleeding because of bits of plastic that they have eaten.

This problem is avoidable: Ireland has put a tax on plastic bags, and use of them dropped by 90%; and a number of towns in England are now banning plastic bags outright (for example, Aylsham in Norfolk is considering doing so, which is excellent news).

The more plastic there is, the more pressure there is from the Government to incinerate it. The Green Party is now joining with local residents to fight against incinerator proposals in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Every additional plastic bag means a little bit more pressure in favour of incineration; to stop incineration, we need to turn the tide of plastic bags and plastic packaging."