Mike
Dunning - 3-Oct-2006 - South West Environment
Agency regional director Richard Cresswell is
challenging food and drink manufacturers to do
more to stop creating so much rubbish and preserve
our environment.
More than four million tonnes
of packaging waste is produced by households every
year, most of which ends up on a landfill site.
Fifteen per cent of greenhouse gases result from
food production and distribution.
In a talk to the region’s leading
conference on sustainability and climate change
(ENVEC) at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-Super-Mare
tomorrow (October 4), Dr Cresswell will highlight
the overall amount of waste being produced is
increasing despite people wanting to be more green
and recycling rates increasing.
‘We need to do more to reduce
the amount of packaging being used by companies
because they are key to how much rubbish we all
produce every day,’ said Richard Cresswell.
‘The way our society uses resources
cannot continue, so we want to see even more progress.
We are planning to develop a joint food and drink
sector plan looking at ways to maximise sound
environmental management.’
ENVEC is the region’s main annual
conference and exhibition designed to help business
become more energy and resource efficient.
More than 40 exhibitors, including
energy and environmental experts, will be on hand
to advise managers from business and the public
sector on how they can reduce their carbon emissions,
which in turn will help them to cut costs and
increase profit.
The conference will be chaired
by Richard Cresswell, who will also make the presentation
called, ‘Waste – The Growing Challenge.’ He will
tell invited delegates that manufacturers need
to do more to help reduce waste.
It is no surprise that food
packaging makes up a significant part of people’s
waste at home and that many companies are taking
action in a number of ways including using reusable,
refillable, recycled and recyclable materials.
The European model of wealth
is based on a high level of resource consumption
including energy and materials.
‘We have to go further than
just re-cycling – we have to reduce waste production
and we must aim to break the link between economic
development and increased waste production and
resource use,’ added Dr Cresswell.
Dr Cresswell also listed a number
of electrical gadgets people admit to owning but
never using including toasted sandwich maker,
electric knife, foot spa, blender, juicer, soda
stream and bread maker.
It is open season on plastic
bags as far as supermarkets are concerned. Last
month, Tesco unveiled its own scheme to cut down
on their use by offering customers one point for
the Clubcard loyalty scheme (worth 1p) for every
carrier bag they do not use.
The number of carrier bags handed
out to British shoppers comes to 17 billion a
year, or 280 per person. Only one in every 200
bags is recycled and an estimated 100,000 tonnes
of bags, the same weight as 70,000 cars, are thrown
away each year.
There is also a cost to retailers.
As an oil-based product, the price of plastic
bags has risen in recent months and the European
commission is set to impose a 10% to 15% import
tax on those imported from Thailand and China,
which is expected to cost retailers an extra £50
million. French supermarkets no longer provide
small plastic bags.
