An estimated 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK, with just 1 in 400 recycled. The scale of this waste prompted the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in December to recommend that the government should introduce a 25p levy on single use cups and set a target of full recycling by 2023, with an outright ban if the 2023 target was missed.

Theresa May said the latte levy was an “exciting idea”, while Michael Gove, the environment minister, was photographed arriving at Downing Street displaying his new bamboo reusable cup and matching mint-green tie. He also gave reusable cups to his cabinet colleagues.

But only two months on, ministers now think retailers should introduce a discount for customers that bring their own container, rather than adding a 25p charge on purchases with throwaway cups.

Customer discount

This goes against EAC recommendations, as well as evidence from the plastic bag charge that was introduced across the UK between 2011 and 2015. In England alone, usage in 2016/17 was 83 percent lower than in 2014 – with 9 billion fewer bags used by shoppers.

Several high street chains, including Starbucks and Costa Coffee, already offer customers with reusable cups a 25p discount. But less than 2% of coffees sold in the UK receive this discount, with industry experts telling the EAC this is down to a lack of awareness of the schemes, as well as the discount offered being too small.

Depending on the findings from the new consultation, a charge on single-use plastic could be rolled out in one of three forms: a tax on the use of single-use plastics; a charge on plastics at the point of purchase (like the plastic bag charge); or introducing a deposit-return system for consumers.

As ministers now favour a discount rather than a tax with coffee cups – despite the EAC recommendation – it suggests a similar approach could be taken with single-use plastics.

Plastic ocean

The EAC’s enquiry was prompted by the BBC’s 2016 documentary ‘War on Waste’, with subsequent programmes lifting the plastic crisis up the public agenda.

The BBC’s ‘Blue Planet’ programme as well as Sky’s ‘Ocean Rescue’ and the Daily Mail’s anti-waste campaigns, amongst others, ensured it remained in the public conscious, across the political spectrum.  

The government successfully caught the public mood on tackling plastic and helped drive this media narrative, ultimately bringing enough attention to the crisis that voluntary action has been taken.

The BBC, Sky, Wetherspoons pub chain, Morrisons and Tesco supermarkets, and drinks giant Diageo are among those pledging to cut out single-use plastics.

But this is insufficient to make a real difference in the absence of actual legislation. Despite the voluntary changes seen already, there are many more businesses with no stated intention to cut their use of plastic.

Green Brexit in the bin?

The government has promised to deliver a ‘green Brexit’, with higher environmental standards in the UK once we leave the EU. To this end, in January Defra published a 25-year environment plan that included the aim of eliminating ‘all avoidable plastic waste by end of 2042’.

A new environmental watchdog to oversee post-Brexit regulation has been promised, with an Environment Bill expected in the autumn. For Michael Gove, this presents both an opportunity to enhance his personal legacy as a leading Brexiteer and deliver a tangible benefit to the UK environment from Brexit.

This gives the UK government to build in greater environmental ambition,[JH1]  delivering what was set out in the 25-year plan. But there is a real risk of deregulation under the guise of repatriation of powers, with some Tory MPs calling on the government to roll back regulation across the economy.

In Whitehall Defra is regarded as a hard Brexit department, because it is led by an ardent brexiteer, and standards and regulations are key to the idea of ‘taking back control’.

Enhanced environment

It is important to note, however, that EU membership has never prevented the UK from raising its environmental standards by itself, and maintaining high environmental and product standards will be crucial for a future trade agreement with the EU.

Political success as a minister and delivering environmental success for the country are not the same thing, and Michael Gove needs to follow through and make good on the promise to raise environmental ambition in post-Brexit UK.

This government has the ambitious goal of making sure ours is the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it was found, and a long-term strategy for tackling plastic waste is crucial to this.

But back-tracking on the latte levy could set a precedent that undermines a green Brexit, as well as the government’s dream of ensuring a ‘protected and enhanced environment’ is passed to the next generation.

This Author

Joseph Dutton is a policy adviser for the global climate change think-tank E3G. He tweets at @JDuttonUK.

Theresa May and her cabinet must put environmental protection at the heart of its trade policy by banning deals that allow big corporations access to their own clandestine courts, James Thornton, the chief executive of ClientEarth, will say today.

Thornton is giving a keynote speech at a Green Brexit conference in London this morning – with Michael Gove, the environment secretary in attendance. He will use the event to argue that controversial “ISDS-style” trade agreements – which allow companies to sideline domestic courts and sue governments over environmental rule-making – must be made illegal.

The environmental lawyer will say in his speech: “We can integrate environmental protection throughout trade policy. We can refuse to trade with countries that do not participate adequately in key international agreements, like the Paris Accord.

Diesel and petrol

“Perhaps most importantly, we need to stay away from tribunals that allow big corporations to sue governments over environmental rule making. These deals create an environmental penalty for an economic crime.”

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that such practices are against EU law. “We should make them illegal here too,” Thornton will add in his keynote speech, which sets out how Britain can and must become a world leader on environmental protection after leaving the EU.

The UK government is due to publish its proposals for a new watchdog in the coming weeks that will hold the government and public authorities to account on environmental standards.

Thornton will tell the conference: “This body will need to have enough bark and enough bite so that when the government won’t listen, the courts will be able to make them. Courts should be empowered to write specific injunctions that require actions such as cleaning up our air.”

The speech comes at the same time as the publication of the Joint Select Committee on Air Quality report today that says the government should bring forward the 2040 target to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles.

Forward-thinking

Thornton will add: “Bringing forward the diesel ban would give a very clear signal to the automotive industry that they need to switch to cleaner modes of transport as soon as possible.”

The chief executive of the environmental law group will argue that the UK can become a leader on sustainable transport by increasing the number of electric charging points to every 10 parking spaces for new non-residential buildings.

He will also suggest looking to California and China, where manufacturers have been made to ensure a percentage of vehicles sold are low-emission. This would not cost the taxpayer and help the UK compete on an international stage.

A spokesperson for ClientEarth added: “These forward-thinking policies, and proper access to justice for citizens, could position the UK as a world-leader on the environment and inspire other nations once Britain leaves the EU.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist, founder of Request Initiative and co-author of Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries (Oxford University Press). He tweets at @EcoMontague.

An estimated 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK, with just 1 in 400 recycled. The scale of this waste prompted the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in December to recommend that the government should introduce a 25p levy on single use cups and set a target of full recycling by 2023, with an outright ban if the 2023 target was missed.

Theresa May said the latte levy was an “exciting idea”, while Michael Gove, the environment minister, was photographed arriving at Downing Street displaying his new bamboo reusable cup and matching mint-green tie. He also gave reusable cups to his cabinet colleagues.

But only two months on, ministers now think retailers should introduce a discount for customers that bring their own container, rather than adding a 25p charge on purchases with throwaway cups.

Customer discount

This goes against EAC recommendations, as well as evidence from the plastic bag charge that was introduced across the UK between 2011 and 2015. In England alone, usage in 2016/17 was 83 percent lower than in 2014 – with 9 billion fewer bags used by shoppers.

Several high street chains, including Starbucks and Costa Coffee, already offer customers with reusable cups a 25p discount. But less than 2% of coffees sold in the UK receive this discount, with industry experts telling the EAC this is down to a lack of awareness of the schemes, as well as the discount offered being too small.

Depending on the findings from the new consultation, a charge on single-use plastic could be rolled out in one of three forms: a tax on the use of single-use plastics; a charge on plastics at the point of purchase (like the plastic bag charge); or introducing a deposit-return system for consumers.

As ministers now favour a discount rather than a tax with coffee cups – despite the EAC recommendation – it suggests a similar approach could be taken with single-use plastics.

Plastic ocean

The EAC’s enquiry was prompted by the BBC’s 2016 documentary ‘War on Waste’, with subsequent programmes lifting the plastic crisis up the public agenda.

The BBC’s ‘Blue Planet’ programme as well as Sky’s ‘Ocean Rescue’ and the Daily Mail’s anti-waste campaigns, amongst others, ensured it remained in the public conscious, across the political spectrum.  

The government successfully caught the public mood on tackling plastic and helped drive this media narrative, ultimately bringing enough attention to the crisis that voluntary action has been taken.

The BBC, Sky, Wetherspoons pub chain, Morrisons and Tesco supermarkets, and drinks giant Diageo are among those pledging to cut out single-use plastics.

But this is insufficient to make a real difference in the absence of actual legislation. Despite the voluntary changes seen already, there are many more businesses with no stated intention to cut their use of plastic.

Green Brexit in the bin?

The government has promised to deliver a ‘green Brexit’, with higher environmental standards in the UK once we leave the EU. To this end, in January Defra published a 25-year environment plan that included the aim of eliminating ‘all avoidable plastic waste by end of 2042’.

A new environmental watchdog to oversee post-Brexit regulation has been promised, with an Environment Bill expected in the autumn. For Michael Gove, this presents both an opportunity to enhance his personal legacy as a leading Brexiteer and deliver a tangible benefit to the UK environment from Brexit.

This gives the UK government to build in greater environmental ambition,[JH1]  delivering what was set out in the 25-year plan. But there is a real risk of deregulation under the guise of repatriation of powers, with some Tory MPs calling on the government to roll back regulation across the economy.

In Whitehall Defra is regarded as a hard Brexit department, because it is led by an ardent brexiteer, and standards and regulations are key to the idea of ‘taking back control’.

Enhanced environment

It is important to note, however, that EU membership has never prevented the UK from raising its environmental standards by itself, and maintaining high environmental and product standards will be crucial for a future trade agreement with the EU.

Political success as a minister and delivering environmental success for the country are not the same thing, and Michael Gove needs to follow through and make good on the promise to raise environmental ambition in post-Brexit UK.

This government has the ambitious goal of making sure ours is the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it was found, and a long-term strategy for tackling plastic waste is crucial to this.

But back-tracking on the latte levy could set a precedent that undermines a green Brexit, as well as the government’s dream of ensuring a ‘protected and enhanced environment’ is passed to the next generation.

This Author

Joseph Dutton is a policy adviser for the global climate change think-tank E3G. He tweets at @JDuttonUK.

Theresa May and her cabinet must put environmental protection at the heart of its trade policy by banning deals that allow big corporations access to their own clandestine courts, James Thornton, the chief executive of ClientEarth, will say today.

Thornton is giving a keynote speech at a Green Brexit conference in London this morning – with Michael Gove, the environment secretary in attendance. He will use the event to argue that controversial “ISDS-style” trade agreements – which allow companies to sideline domestic courts and sue governments over environmental rule-making – must be made illegal.

The environmental lawyer will say in his speech: “We can integrate environmental protection throughout trade policy. We can refuse to trade with countries that do not participate adequately in key international agreements, like the Paris Accord.

Diesel and petrol

“Perhaps most importantly, we need to stay away from tribunals that allow big corporations to sue governments over environmental rule making. These deals create an environmental penalty for an economic crime.”

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that such practices are against EU law. “We should make them illegal here too,” Thornton will add in his keynote speech, which sets out how Britain can and must become a world leader on environmental protection after leaving the EU.

The UK government is due to publish its proposals for a new watchdog in the coming weeks that will hold the government and public authorities to account on environmental standards.

Thornton will tell the conference: “This body will need to have enough bark and enough bite so that when the government won’t listen, the courts will be able to make them. Courts should be empowered to write specific injunctions that require actions such as cleaning up our air.”

The speech comes at the same time as the publication of the Joint Select Committee on Air Quality report today that says the government should bring forward the 2040 target to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles.

Forward-thinking

Thornton will add: “Bringing forward the diesel ban would give a very clear signal to the automotive industry that they need to switch to cleaner modes of transport as soon as possible.”

The chief executive of the environmental law group will argue that the UK can become a leader on sustainable transport by increasing the number of electric charging points to every 10 parking spaces for new non-residential buildings.

He will also suggest looking to California and China, where manufacturers have been made to ensure a percentage of vehicles sold are low-emission. This would not cost the taxpayer and help the UK compete on an international stage.

A spokesperson for ClientEarth added: “These forward-thinking policies, and proper access to justice for citizens, could position the UK as a world-leader on the environment and inspire other nations once Britain leaves the EU.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist, founder of Request Initiative and co-author of Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries (Oxford University Press). He tweets at @EcoMontague.

An estimated 2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK, with just 1 in 400 recycled. The scale of this waste prompted the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in December to recommend that the government should introduce a 25p levy on single use cups and set a target of full recycling by 2023, with an outright ban if the 2023 target was missed.

Theresa May said the latte levy was an “exciting idea”, while Michael Gove, the environment minister, was photographed arriving at Downing Street displaying his new bamboo reusable cup and matching mint-green tie. He also gave reusable cups to his cabinet colleagues.

But only two months on, ministers now think retailers should introduce a discount for customers that bring their own container, rather than adding a 25p charge on purchases with throwaway cups.

Customer discount

This goes against EAC recommendations, as well as evidence from the plastic bag charge that was introduced across the UK between 2011 and 2015. In England alone, usage in 2016/17 was 83 percent lower than in 2014 – with 9 billion fewer bags used by shoppers.

Several high street chains, including Starbucks and Costa Coffee, already offer customers with reusable cups a 25p discount. But less than 2% of coffees sold in the UK receive this discount, with industry experts telling the EAC this is down to a lack of awareness of the schemes, as well as the discount offered being too small.

Depending on the findings from the new consultation, a charge on single-use plastic could be rolled out in one of three forms: a tax on the use of single-use plastics; a charge on plastics at the point of purchase (like the plastic bag charge); or introducing a deposit-return system for consumers.

As ministers now favour a discount rather than a tax with coffee cups – despite the EAC recommendation – it suggests a similar approach could be taken with single-use plastics.

Plastic ocean

The EAC’s enquiry was prompted by the BBC’s 2016 documentary ‘War on Waste’, with subsequent programmes lifting the plastic crisis up the public agenda.

The BBC’s ‘Blue Planet’ programme as well as Sky’s ‘Ocean Rescue’ and the Daily Mail’s anti-waste campaigns, amongst others, ensured it remained in the public conscious, across the political spectrum.  

The government successfully caught the public mood on tackling plastic and helped drive this media narrative, ultimately bringing enough attention to the crisis that voluntary action has been taken.

The BBC, Sky, Wetherspoons pub chain, Morrisons and Tesco supermarkets, and drinks giant Diageo are among those pledging to cut out single-use plastics.

But this is insufficient to make a real difference in the absence of actual legislation. Despite the voluntary changes seen already, there are many more businesses with no stated intention to cut their use of plastic.

Green Brexit in the bin?

The government has promised to deliver a ‘green Brexit’, with higher environmental standards in the UK once we leave the EU. To this end, in January Defra published a 25-year environment plan that included the aim of eliminating ‘all avoidable plastic waste by end of 2042’.

A new environmental watchdog to oversee post-Brexit regulation has been promised, with an Environment Bill expected in the autumn. For Michael Gove, this presents both an opportunity to enhance his personal legacy as a leading Brexiteer and deliver a tangible benefit to the UK environment from Brexit.

This gives the UK government to build in greater environmental ambition,[JH1]  delivering what was set out in the 25-year plan. But there is a real risk of deregulation under the guise of repatriation of powers, with some Tory MPs calling on the government to roll back regulation across the economy.

In Whitehall Defra is regarded as a hard Brexit department, because it is led by an ardent brexiteer, and standards and regulations are key to the idea of ‘taking back control’.

Enhanced environment

It is important to note, however, that EU membership has never prevented the UK from raising its environmental standards by itself, and maintaining high environmental and product standards will be crucial for a future trade agreement with the EU.

Political success as a minister and delivering environmental success for the country are not the same thing, and Michael Gove needs to follow through and make good on the promise to raise environmental ambition in post-Brexit UK.

This government has the ambitious goal of making sure ours is the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it was found, and a long-term strategy for tackling plastic waste is crucial to this.

But back-tracking on the latte levy could set a precedent that undermines a green Brexit, as well as the government’s dream of ensuring a ‘protected and enhanced environment’ is passed to the next generation.

This Author

Joseph Dutton is a policy adviser for the global climate change think-tank E3G. He tweets at @JDuttonUK.

Theresa May and her cabinet must put environmental protection at the heart of its trade policy by banning deals that allow big corporations access to their own clandestine courts, James Thornton, the chief executive of ClientEarth, will say today.

Thornton is giving a keynote speech at a Green Brexit conference in London this morning – with Michael Gove, the environment secretary in attendance. He will use the event to argue that controversial “ISDS-style” trade agreements – which allow companies to sideline domestic courts and sue governments over environmental rule-making – must be made illegal.

The environmental lawyer will say in his speech: “We can integrate environmental protection throughout trade policy. We can refuse to trade with countries that do not participate adequately in key international agreements, like the Paris Accord.

Diesel and petrol

“Perhaps most importantly, we need to stay away from tribunals that allow big corporations to sue governments over environmental rule making. These deals create an environmental penalty for an economic crime.”

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that such practices are against EU law. “We should make them illegal here too,” Thornton will add in his keynote speech, which sets out how Britain can and must become a world leader on environmental protection after leaving the EU.

The UK government is due to publish its proposals for a new watchdog in the coming weeks that will hold the government and public authorities to account on environmental standards.

Thornton will tell the conference: “This body will need to have enough bark and enough bite so that when the government won’t listen, the courts will be able to make them. Courts should be empowered to write specific injunctions that require actions such as cleaning up our air.”

The speech comes at the same time as the publication of the Joint Select Committee on Air Quality report today that says the government should bring forward the 2040 target to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles.

Forward-thinking

Thornton will add: “Bringing forward the diesel ban would give a very clear signal to the automotive industry that they need to switch to cleaner modes of transport as soon as possible.”

The chief executive of the environmental law group will argue that the UK can become a leader on sustainable transport by increasing the number of electric charging points to every 10 parking spaces for new non-residential buildings.

He will also suggest looking to California and China, where manufacturers have been made to ensure a percentage of vehicles sold are low-emission. This would not cost the taxpayer and help the UK compete on an international stage.

A spokesperson for ClientEarth added: “These forward-thinking policies, and proper access to justice for citizens, could position the UK as a world-leader on the environment and inspire other nations once Britain leaves the EU.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist, founder of Request Initiative and co-author of Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries (Oxford University Press). He tweets at @EcoMontague.

Theresa May and her cabinet must put environmental protection at the heart of its trade policy by banning deals that allow big corporations access to their own clandestine courts, James Thornton, the chief executive of ClientEarth, will say today.

Thornton is giving a keynote speech at a Green Brexit conference in London this morning – with Michael Gove, the environment secretary in attendance. He will use the event to argue that controversial “ISDS-style” trade agreements – which allow companies to sideline domestic courts and sue governments over environmental rule-making – must be made illegal.

The environmental lawyer will say in his speech: “We can integrate environmental protection throughout trade policy. We can refuse to trade with countries that do not participate adequately in key international agreements, like the Paris Accord.

Diesel and petrol

“Perhaps most importantly, we need to stay away from tribunals that allow big corporations to sue governments over environmental rule making. These deals create an environmental penalty for an economic crime.”

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that such practices are against EU law. “We should make them illegal here too,” Thornton will add in his keynote speech, which sets out how Britain can and must become a world leader on environmental protection after leaving the EU.

The UK government is due to publish its proposals for a new watchdog in the coming weeks that will hold the government and public authorities to account on environmental standards.

Thornton will tell the conference: “This body will need to have enough bark and enough bite so that when the government won’t listen, the courts will be able to make them. Courts should be empowered to write specific injunctions that require actions such as cleaning up our air.”

The speech comes at the same time as the publication of the Joint Select Committee on Air Quality report today that says the government should bring forward the 2040 target to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles.

Forward-thinking

Thornton will add: “Bringing forward the diesel ban would give a very clear signal to the automotive industry that they need to switch to cleaner modes of transport as soon as possible.”

The chief executive of the environmental law group will argue that the UK can become a leader on sustainable transport by increasing the number of electric charging points to every 10 parking spaces for new non-residential buildings.

He will also suggest looking to California and China, where manufacturers have been made to ensure a percentage of vehicles sold are low-emission. This would not cost the taxpayer and help the UK compete on an international stage.

A spokesperson for ClientEarth added: “These forward-thinking policies, and proper access to justice for citizens, could position the UK as a world-leader on the environment and inspire other nations once Britain leaves the EU.”

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist, founder of Request Initiative and co-author of Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries (Oxford University Press). He tweets at @EcoMontague.

Fossil fuel companies like to be seen to be doing good. That’s why you’ll see their logos splashed across school resources, kids’ sports team’s jerseys, and all kinds of ‘STEM’ celebrations. And it’s much more targeted than you might think. 

DeSmog UK’s new greenwash database – launched today – tracks fossil fuel companies’ involvement in local communities through funding and sponsorship. The entries come from hours of trawling through corporate twitter feeds and corporate social responsibility reports to find out where Big Oil companies are targeted their resources.

It shows that over the last two years, five major oil companies have been involved in more than 100 local programmes and events.

Billion-dollar

If that seems a lot, there’s a good reason why – their involvement allows the companies to greenwash their image and cheaply purchase a social license to operate within communities in which they have a vested interest.

The deals let companies look like good social actors, while keeping communities locked into their economic dependence on the fossil fuel industry, campaigners say.

Chris Garrard, co-director of campaign group Culture Unstained, says government budget cuts put an unfair burden on communities to accept such deals:

“I think it places the community in a very difficult position because there are pressures on funding within the arts and pressures on funding within schools and education so any support that’s being offered is going to be really welcome.

“It’s very much tokenistic, and to the community they are being offered what might be a significant amount, but it’s a drop in ocean compared to the billion-dollar budgets of these fossil fuel companies.”

Sponsorship deals

They give companies the opportunity to appeal to parents through their kids’ schools, while getting their logo in front of potential future consumers at an early age (even when it’s not needed). And they help companies to appeal to younger generations, at a time when jobs in the sector are unpopular.

Anna Markova, campaigner with Platform, says it’s important to remember that the deals aren’t set up just to be good for society, they’re also good for business:

“All these sponsorships are business decisions. They work out which audiences they want to buy the trust of and then they’ll think ‘ok, how do I buy that trust’. Or they might think a particular MP is important on the foreign affairs committee and we want that support so let’s sponsor something in the MP’s constituency.”

“One of the longer term impacts of this overall is that it sucks the life out community events, in the sense that it’s a kind of corporate takeover of something that ought to be in a public space by people, for people.”

That’s why DeSmog UK’s new database is needed — to keep track of where fossil fuel companies are spending their resources, and who or what they are trying to influence.

The database will continue to be updated as new sponsorship deals are announced. If you know of any fossil fuel sponsorship happening in your community, please get in touch by emailing database@desmog.uk

This author

Mat Hope is editor of DeSmog UK, an investigative journalism outlet dedicated to unveiling corporate wrongdoing on climate change and the environment. He tweets @matjhope. Full disclosure: Brendan Montague, editor of The Ecologist, is a former editor of DeSmog UK.

The production, sale, consumption and disposal of single-use plastics could all be targeted through new tax rules with the revenues raised ploughed back into innovation, chancellor Philip Hammond said in his spring statement yesterday.

The “call for evidence” follows up the pledge Hammond made in the autumn budget, and prime minister Theresa May’s commitment to end “avoidable” plastic waste by 2042 in the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

Hammond said: “The call for evidence will look at how the tax system can drive the technological progress and behavioural change that we need, not as a way of raising revenue, but as a way of changing behaviour and encouraging innovation.”

Act now

He also announced a £20 million innovation fund for businesses and universities to develop ideas for slashing plastic waste. The government is separately considering incentivising recycling of drinks containers, including plastic bottles, through a deposit return scheme and is due to report its findings soon.

The publication of the call for evidence follows growing evidence of the harm plastic waste has done to the environment. This week, researchers at the University of Manchester found that UK rivers are heavily contaminated with broken down plastic debris.

They examined river sediments from 40 sites across Greater Manchester, including rural streams in the hills and urban rivers in the city centre. Microplastic contamination was discovered in all parts of the network.

Reacting to Hammond’s statement, Friends of the Earth tweeted: “We’ve been advising the government about resources including plastic since at least 2010. Now at least they’re listening – but will they act?”

Tatiana Lujan, a lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “We are pleased the government is at least considering taxing single-use plastics but it should be taking firm action, now, to stop plastic pollution not delaying yet further. MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee have provided plenty of evidence that is sufficient for the government to act now. Our oceans can’t wait.”

Deposit return

The government last week rejected a recommendation by the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee for a 25p surcharge on single-use coffee cups. The “latte levy” was impractical, it said, claiming that resources would be better spent looking at more holistic approaches to waste, given that coffee cups make up 0.7% of paper packaging waste in the UK.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party co-leader,  criticised the government for not taking the action needed to meet its rhetoric on protecting the environment. “They’ve stalled the latte levy and proposed action on plastic that will take 25 years! Not good enough”, she tweeted.

Greenpeace said that taxes on plastic could change behaviour and reduce single-use plastics, pointing to the 5p levy on plastic shopping bags. However, more pressure was needed on producers and sellers, Greenpeace UK senior political adviser Rebecca Newsom said.

“The main problem with single-use plastic is that we produce far too much of it in the first place. As well as charges, the government should introduce measures to fundamentally reduce the amount of plastic waste being produced and sold,” she said.

Illegal and harmful

There should be more pressure on supermarkets and food giants to cut down the amount of throwaway plastic they put into circulation, together with a deposit return scheme for all drinks containers, she added.

Hammond also announced a consultation on reducing vehicle excise duty for the cleanest vans to help cut air pollution.

Andrea Lee, senior clean air campaigner at ClientEarth, said that while it was a welcome move, the chancellor “should be getting on with it now”, not launching another consultation.

“The government knows that it needs to encourage cleaner forms of transport in order to clean up illegal and harmful pollution.

If he was serious, the chancellor would have found money to help British industries develop cleaner van technologies and give people and business more options to reduce their emissions,” she said.

This Author

Catherine Early is a freelance environmental journalist and the former deputy editor of the environmentalist. She can be found tweeting at @Cat_Early76.

Vast quantities of scarce metals  worth hundreds of millions of euros are being lost each year due to the lack of incentives for recycling vehicles.

This – coupled with an increase in demand for rare metals for green technologies, such as electric cars, solar cells, LED lighting and wind power – puts pressure on the supply chain and risks causing a strategic and economic problem for the EU.

In 2015 there were an estimated 400 tonnes of gold in Europe’s vehicle fleet, while the vehicles that left the fleet contained in the region of 20 tonnes of gold, none of which was recycled.

Urban mine

Maria Ljunggren Söderman, a researcher at Environmental Systems Analysis at Chalmers University of Technology, is part of  an extensive European research project Prosum, which has now compiled a new database with which to address the problem.

The Urban Mine Platform, the only one of its kind in the world, charts what is known as the urban mine: the metals that are already in circulation and could be recycled from our end-of-life vehicles and electrical and electronic equipment.

Further to carrying out a  survey of the 260 million light-duty vehicles in Europe’s vehicle fleet Ljunggren Söderman noted that the quantities of critical and scarce metals  have increased substantially, and that vehicles also now include many new metals.

She said: “This is mainly because we are constructing increasingly advanced vehicles, with a great deal of electronics, lightweight materials and catalytic converters.

“The increase in the numbers of electric vehicles adds to this development, even though they so far represent a small proportion of the vehicle fleet.”

Precious metals

One such example is neodymium, one of the rare earth metals (REM). It is estimated that by 2020 there will be nearly 18,000 tonnes of neodymium in the active vehicle fleet – nine times the amount present in the year 2000.

Gold is another example – and the researchers were surprised by just how vast the quantities of hidden gold in our vehicles actually are.

Ljunggren Söderman says: “Our calculation shows that the quantity of gold in end-of-life vehicles is now in the same order of magnitude as the quantity in electrical and electronic scrap. This is an increase that cannot be ignored.”

Very little of the critical and scarce metals in vehicles is recycled because they are spread out in small quantities; in a new car, for example, there may be a gram or two of gold distributed over several tens of components.

No incentive

But while the EU has clear requirements for the recycling of precious metals in electrical and electronic equipment, such stipulations are lacking as regards vehicles.

Ljunggren Söderman said: “There are no requirements or incentives for recycling gold from vehicles, but there are clear economic values here the extent of which people are yet to realise.”

She hopes that the research findings will spur on a change: “Automotive manufacturers and the recycling and material industries need to work together to ensure that something happens. It must be possible to do more than at present,  after all  this has been achieved with electrical and electronic equipment.”

“Having said that, gold is a comparatively low-hanging fruit, and the prospects for recycling other critical and scarce metals are from both vehicles and electrical and electronic equipment are significantly less favourable.  If we want to alter this, policy changes may be necessary.”

“The critical and scarce metals in our products have increased substantially, and in most cases we only use them once. This must be addressed, especially because these metals are required for many of the sustainable technological solutions that we currently have on the table.”

This Author

Catherine Harte is contributing editor of The Ecologist. This story is based on a news release from Chalmers University of Technology.