A column by North Wiltshire MP James Gray

On Tuesday, North Wiltshire MP James Gray attended an Industry and Parliament Trust event to discuss ‘The Path Toward a Plastic Free Future.’

At the event, MPs and guests came together to discuss the Government’s 25 Year Plan for the Environment, the UK’s Plastic Pact and plans to discourage the creation of plastic packaging.

According to research by waste management company Viridor, only 46 per cent of plastic packaging is currently recycled against a target of 75 per cent.

Since the release of Blue Planet 2, pressure has grown from the public and MPs to cut down on single-use plastic.

By April 2020, new controls on plastics items will be implemented with restrictions on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds. However, James Gray believes that we need to formulate an aggressive strategy to ban all non-recyclable plastic.

After the event Mr Gray said that: “I was extremely pleased to have attended this event to highlight the negative impact that plastic has on our environment and learn more about how we can address the problems of plastic pollution.

"Having seen for myself the albatross with their stomachs full of plastic, I know more needs to be done to tackle this crisis.

"We cannot lower our ambitions and should take action now to protect our planet and wildlife.

Recycling alone will not come close to meeting the challenge that faces us, particularly as plastic production is set to quadruple over the next twenty years.

"Therefore, we need action to reduce the amount of plastic that we use and stop the use of non-recyclable products in order to end our pollution crisis”