Lib Dem Calls for Less Packaging Waste (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dem Calls for Less Packaging Waste

April 4, 2006 4:40 PM

Liberal Democrat County Councillor Bob Johnston succeeded in persuading the County Council to ask the Government to implement its regulations on reducing packaging at today's County Council meeting.

Bob said, "The County and District Councils in Oxfordshire - in common with all other local authorities - will soon have to meet very strict limits on the amount of waste we can send to landfill. Oxfordshire is already ahead of the game, by producing the least waste per head of population in the country and by recycling one-third of our waste - but we will have to reduce the non-recycled waste still further.

"The Government were bringing in regulations to reduce the amount of packaging used by the retail trade - but they appear to have stalled. Much of the packaging used in supermarket foods is not recyclable, and seems vastly excessive. I hope that the Government will listen to us, and restart work to reduce the amount of packaging by at least 50%."

Bob's motion was passed by 59 votes for to 1 against.

Notes:

Liberal Democrat Peer, Baroness Maddock also raised this issue recently (30th March) in the House of Lords. She asked: "Does he [the Government Minister] not agree that a large proportion of household waste is packaging? Each time we buy something, we get a lot of unnecessary packaging. What measures are the Government taking to deal with that increasingly difficult problem?" The Minister (Lord Bach) replied that the Government "are encouraging businesses by setting targets for the kind of packaging that they should produce". It is this target that Cllr Johnston wants to be announced and implemented as soon as possible.

Bob Johnston's motion read: "This Council notes with alarm the lack of progress by the Government on the implementation of the apparently stalled new regulations on packaging. In the light of the impending changes to waste collection and waste disposal within the County, this Council asks the Leader of the Council to call upon the Government to set a new deadline for implementing these regulations, and for the regulations to have as their objective to reduce by at least 50% the amount of packaging used by the retail trade. This Council notes that such a reduction would greatly ease the County in meeting its much reduced capacity to use landfill, and further notes that the excessive packaging currently used by the retail trade threatens to place a huge burden on the authority in the amount of waste needing to be diverted from landfill to avoid high penalties."