
Reducing your plastic
Tips to reduce the use and disposal of plastic.
Plastic is everywhere!
In the UK we recycle less than two thirds of plastic bottles and less than a third of our plastic tubs, pots and trays. All the district councils in Worcestershire collect plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays for recycling, but there is still a lot of plastic that ends up in the bin.
Some of our plastic ends up polluting our environment. Even though our residents in Worcestershire do their bit to recycle plastic, there is still more than can be done. Most plastic waste in the UK doesn't end up in the oceans, but is sent to landfill or burned in Energy from Waste facilities. People are worried about its impact on nature and they have every right to be; 79% of the plastic waste ever created is still in our environment, leaving a legacy of plastic waste on our planet that will take years to put right.
Plastic has become part of our everyday life, from bottles and bags to plastic trays and pots – our lives are full of it. We now use about 20 times more plastic than we did 50 years ago. Plastic is a very useful material and one which we will never be able to live without, but we use a lot of it; by reducing and recycling plastics, we can reduce our need to produce more plastic.