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Retailers fail to reduce packaging waste
23 September 2010
Commenting on figures published by WRAP showing that despite preventing 1.2 million tonnes of food and packaging waste from entering the waste stream over the last five years, the UK grocery retail sector has failed to reduce the total amount of packaging waste over the same period, Friends of the Earth's resource use campaigner Julian Kirby said:
"It's great that there has been some progress in cutting food waste, but the failure of retailers to reduce total packaging waste is bad news for the environment, shoppers and the cash-strapped councils who are left to dispose of it.
"Industry supported higher targets to recycle packaging waste in the consultation held earlier this year - but the Government's ongoing silence risks undermining future progress on dealing with the problem.
"Britain buries and burns at least £650 million of recyclable materials every year - we need urgent action to shift us towards a genuinely zero-waste society."
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Sep 2010
