B.b.c. found u.k. recycling dumped and burned in Turkey

[20mum]

For covid, buying unwrapped is more difficult. But is there a way to make a meaningful protest to ask that the wrapping is compostable eco acceptable plastic free? For instance, the stuff with Prince of Wales feathers would surely not be wrapped in non recyclable plastic if Charles knew what was happening with his apparent sanction.

I was horrified watching that, as I was when HFW highlighted it ending up in Malaysia last year.

Some of the packaging dumped in Turkey (& Malaysia and probably elsewhere) isn’t even recyclable so should never have ended up there in the first place.
I’m ashamed we are still shipping it off and making it someone else’s problem instead of recycling it here.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-48581673/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-finds-uk-plastic-waste-abandoned-in-malaysia

There just isn't any excuse for using plastic of any kind for packaging, when alternatives are available. Some things are better as plastic, e.g. a watering can, but of course must be whatever colour is sortable, not black, and as you say, it must be made possible to re-use in this country. Post covid, any avoidable imports and exports mean not only making war against the planet, it removes our controllable national resilience.

After,( after, !) the trivial plastic bag tax, the u.k. mega importer of plastic pellets gave a t.v. documentary maker a tour of his plant, where he was busy expanding his business fourfold, having established a continuous stream of his raw material of imported plastic pellets. His tankerloads formed a virtual pipeline from u.s.a., where cheaper oil makes his polluting purchase even cheaper.

Apparently there's an idea to make a plastic tax, but not until 2023. Is there some part of the two words Çlimate Emergency the politicians can't understand? Plastic tax tomorrow, and huge, would give the chancellor revenue for social care, and an incentive to use sustainable alternative packaging. Calories tax, also huge and also tomorrow, would do the same for the chancellor, and remove some of the commercial incentives for keeping u.k. the most obese european country, with resulting personal miseries and n.h.s. costs.