It’s not our opinion, it’s fact.  The organisers of The Big Plastic Count the biggest survey of household plastic waste have released “jaw-dropping” findings. 

They have called for immediate action after concluding that the average household throws away 660 pieces of plastic a week, which equates to over 100 billion pieces of plastic every year.

100,000 households took part in the study, conducted over a week in May.  They meticulously recorded not just the number of items being thrown away, but the types of plastic.  Astoundingly 83% was from food and drinks packaging, the most common items being fruit and vegetable packaging.

UK Government’s latest published statistics (2021) state that 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging was created, of which 44.2% is recycled.  55% is recycled in the UK with the remainder exported, Turkey being the most common final destination.

The Big Plastic Count report cross-referenced figures produced by Recoup, a plastic charity, who advise that not all plastic is easy to sort and recycle, and calculated that just 12% of our plastic waste ends up being recycled in the UK.

David MacDonald, owner of Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging, commented; “This information, whilst shocking, unfortunately is not a surprise.  Recycling is a minefield and consumers are totally confused. Realistically the only way to genuinely reduce single use plastic is to stop producing it in the first place.” 

Cullen are Europe’s only combined manufacture of moulded fibre and corrugated packaging and have produced over 1 billion, 100% plastic free packaging solutions since 2020.  We manufacture moulded fibre produce trays that hold fruit and vegetables for all major supermarkets throughout the UK.  We also provide moulded fibre products to the NHS, McDonald’s and Gregg’s.

By collaborating with clients we can work on replacing most plastic packaging, with a moulded fibre (pulp) alternative within 1 month.  There are alternatives to plastic and Cullen have the solution!

Bring us your packaging challenge, together we will find a plastic free solution. Can we afford not to?

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Source: The Big Plastic Count Report