views from
Now, as lockdown restrictions ease and the weather brightens up, more of us will be meeting friends and families in outdoor spaces. Parks and greenspaces have never been more important to our mental and physical wellbeing. That’s why I welcome the Environment Bill which includes important provisions to improve our natural habitat and reduce waste. For example, plans to reduce plastic waste; promoting recycling through a deposit return scheme for drinks containers; and measures to ensure that firms producing plastic packaging fund the cost of disposing of it. The legislation also contains measures to crack down on waste crime and to reduce sewage discharges into rivers from storm overflows.
Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire I cannot wait for the Summer. Maybe it is the tedium and annoyances of lockdown and, to be honest the weather wasn’t helping earlier in the Spring.
6
Ministers recently announced they are exploring plans for tobacco companies to pay for the litter created by cigarettes after fresh evidence that cleaning up littered cigarette butts costs UK local authorities around £40 million per year. Despite smoking rates being at their lowest recorded level, cigarette filters continue to be the most commonly littered item in England. The Conservative government is leading efforts to limit single-use plastics to protect our environment. We have already removed microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and banned the supply of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in England. The single-use plastic bags levy, about which I was initially sceptical, has been a great success. From April next year a plastic packaging tax will be introduced for products which do not have at least 30% recycled content. While these measures are significant, there is something we can all do to help our local environment. The environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, is asking everyone to pledge some of their time to clear up the litter that blights our green places. The Great British Spring Clean campaign is running from 28 May to 13th June 2021. You can pledge to commit some time to litter-picking at www.keepbritaintidy. org/gbspringclean. Here is a practical way we can enjoy the outdoors and make a big difference to the environment on our doorstep.
