Lib Dems step up campaign on excess packaging

10.22.54am GMT Wed 19th Mar 2008

Sally Morgan and Jo Swinson M.P. with Easter Eggs

Liberal Democrats in Central Devon are backing the Party's campaign against unnecessary and excess packaging after they met to discuss the issue at the Party's spring conference.

Packaging is filling up landfill sites on which landfill tax has to be paid, therefore adding to the burden on council tax. If material does not go to landfill, council tax payers pick up the bill for recycling instead. But much packaging is unnecessary and is designed simply to make a product look more eye-catching on a supermarket shelf.

Cllr.Sally Morgan, Parliamentary Candidate for Central Devon, met Jo Swinson MP at the Liberal Democrats' spring conference on 8th March to discuss the problem of waste caused by excess packaging. Jo is a member of the Environmental Audit Committee of the House of Commons and introduced the Packaging

(Reduction) Bill in the last session of Parliament.

Sally Morgan said, "Packaging accounts for around 5 million tonnes of waste per year. Considering total domestic waste in Britain is currently around 26 million tonnes per year, this means a fifth of the waste produced by households is packaging. It is vital that we all cut down on unnecessary packaging and remember this when we are buying goods such as Easter eggs and try to select those with the least amount of packaging.

We need to put pressure on manufacturers and retailers to use less packaging in their products and I urge residents to write to supermarket chains with branches based in Devon to urge them to make a commitment to cutting the amount of packaging used in the products they sell."

Jo Swinson said, "Excessive and wasteful packaging makes absolutely no economic or environmental sense. Despite increases in recycling, domestic waste has risen by a fifth since 1997. The average family now spends £470 per year on their food bills just to cover the cost of packaging. Government attempts to tackle the packaging problem have been much too timid and much too slow."

More on the Liberal Democrats' co-ordinated campaign against excess packaging can now be found at _www.scrapthispack.com_ (http://www.scrapthispack.com/)

Attached: photo of Sally Morgan and Jo Swinson MP demonstrating the amount of unnecessary packaging that comes with chocolate Easter eggs.