Supporting the Sustainable Plastic Policy Commission
Funded by Beyondly members, early March, Prof. Richard Lampitt who is part of the Ocean Bio Geosciences group at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), alongside their plastic team, visited the House of Commons for the launch of the new UK Plastics Commission Report.
It is hoped that the following recommendations within this report, will be put into policy by government after this year’s election;
- Harness the tax system to promote sustainable decisions
- Broaden the scope of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) beyond packaging and create a ‘demand pull’ for sustainable alternatives across sectors
- Incineration remains a dominant waste management method and produces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and toxic pollutants, including acid gases and heavy metals; the Government should set ambitious but achievable targets to reduce incineration and landfilling
- Strengthen regulation and oversight on compostable and biodegradable plastics
- Build the evidence base on plastic pollution’s human and environmental harms
- Drive innovation in sustainable plastics through a national centre of excellence
- Utilise procurement to raise sustainability data and standards in plastic
- Reform ‘end of life’ licensing to support green growth and incentivise the emergence of next-generation production recycling technologies.
To be able to contribute to this valuable research is incredible, developing a government policy for plastics over the entire lifecycle of the material.
Our work with the NOC on plastics is ongoing, as Beyondly are currently funding a global research project that partners with Seakeepers (global membership of yacht owners) to run a research project studying the impact of plastic in oceans. Yacht owners will collect global water samples during their travels which will then be analysed at NOC’s laboratories. This research will help to answer questions including how plastic is travelling through our oceans and forming microplastic ‘hotspots and the key characteristics of the plastics as they degrade across the ocean.
We look forward to sharing more on this project.
