Scrap wasteful packaging says Martin

1.06.24pm GMT Fri 9th Mar 2007

Cheltenham MP Martin has stepped up his campaign against wasteful packaging this week.

He has twice used his position as Lib Dem shadow environment minister to argue for tougher action on waste packaging and tougher fines for litter offences. And he co-sponsored a Bill that would require all large shops to accept packing returned by customers.

Packaging typically costs a typical family £470 each year, one sixth of their food budget, according to the Government's own Waste Resources Action Programme. And with consumers recycling more and more paper, cans and bottles, it makes up more and more of the waste that has to go to landfill sites.

Martin said "it is worrying that over half the household waste produced by homes in Cheltenham every year is from packaging. It costs families the equivalent of two months' grocery bills just to pay for throw away wrapping and packaging. And it poses a threat to our local environment because it's difficult to recycle and most of it ends up in landfill."

Speaking for the Lib Dem front bench, Martin told ministers during debates on new government regulations that some of the worst offenders were electronic goods. "Tiny flash drives and bluetooth earpieces are packaged in huge amounts of plastic packaging. We need to reduce the amount of packaging produced in the first place and make it easier for action to be taken against wasteful packaging."

Martin challenged Labour minister Ben Bradshaw to do more to prevent wasteful packaging in the first place and admit that only four prosecutions had ever been made under the government's wasteful packaging rules.

Martin also co-sponsored fellow Lib Dem Andrew Stunell's bill to force stores like Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury to accept back wasteful packaging from products they sold.

"The aim is to get retailers to put pressure on suppliers to cut packaging with the result of less waste" he said. "That will be good for the environment, good for council costs and good for waste disposal . Similar laws in Germany and Switzerland quickly resulted in retailers putting pressure on suppliers and manufacturers to cut down on packaging, saving both money and cutting the amount of waste going to landfill sites."