A four-point plan for tackling plastic waste has been outlined by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove. He told BBC News – Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst – that he wants to reduce the amount of plastic used in the UK, and to make it simpler for people to recycle. Environmentalists fear Mr Gove will be reluctant to set tighter rules for firms which benefit from the current use of plastics.  The Environment Secretary outlined his thoughts during an informal meeting. He says he wants to:

• Cut the total amount of plastic in circulation.
• Reduce the number of different plastics in use, because that will help recycling firms
• Improve the rate of recycling, which has been slipping recently.
• And make it easier for individuals to know what goes into the recycling bin and what goes into general rubbish.

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Even the Daily Mail gets it: New national rules are set to end the postcode lottery on recycling.

In a radical four-point plan, the Environment Secretary wants to tie councils to common guidelines that will make recycling less confusing for millions. At present, town halls are free to decide what they recycle.   A recent Daily Mail investigation found that there is a huge disparity on plastic waste, with some local authorities collecting every type – and some taking none at all. Michael Gove has revealed he is considering nationwide standards to ensure that – as far as possible – councils collect the same items.  The plan is a vindication for the Mail’s Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign, which has highlighted the blight of plastic pollution across the world.

Plastic use set to expand Guardian  The global plastic binge which is already causing widespread damage to oceans, habitats and food chains, is set to increase dramatically over the next 10 years after multibillion dollar investments in a new generation of plastics plants in the US. Fossil fuel companies are among those who have ploughed more than $180bn since 2010 into new “cracking” facilities that will produce the raw material for everyday plastics from packaging to bottles, trays and cartons. The new facilities – being built by corporations like Exxon Mobile Chemical and Shell Chemical – will help fuel a 40% rise in plastic production in the next decade, according to experts, exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis that scientist warn already risks “near permanent pollution of the earth.”  “We could be locking in decades of expanded plastics production at precisely the time the world is realising we should use far less of it,” said Carroll Muffett, president of the US Center for International Environmental Law