17 Oct 2023

The UK Government, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland are seeking views on a proposed ban on the manufacture, supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic. The proposed ban, subject to consultation outcomes, would be applied by individual countries in the UK and be […]

14 Jun 2023

Restrictions should be put on bottled water advertising and a 10p tax should be added to shrink-wrapped packs to curb the UK’s 10m bottle-a-day habit, according to campaigners hoping to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. In a policy paper produced by the consultancy Retail Economics, Brita said market sales of bottled water had grown to […]

12 Jan 2023

Almost half the 25,000 sewer blockages in Yorkshire last year were caused by wet wipes flushed down toilets, Yorkshire Water has said. The company said 11,946 of the 25,976 blockages were caused by wipes which did not break down in sewers. Yorkshire Water warned some wipes contained plastic which caused them to snag in pipes. […]

06 Dec 2022

Record number of plastic nurdles found on beaches as environmental groups call for tougher laws. A survey has now found a record number on beaches around the world and campaigners want new laws in place to help reduce spillages. Nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic used by industry to produce nearly all of our plastic […]

13 Oct 2022

The UK’s first-ever Autumn Water Watch has been launched to help assess the health and quality of the nation’s freshwater environments. Running from Friday 14 October until Sunday 16 October, the Autumn Water Watch calls on people up and down the UK to spend just 15 minutes observing their local waters in the form of a […]

07 Jun 2022

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to implement a ban on many of the most problematic single-use plastics, as legislation comes into force. The ban means it will be an offence for businesses in Scotland to provide the items – which include plastic cutlery, plates and stirrers. Around 700 million of these […]

11 May 2022

Scientists are calling for the production of new plastics to be capped in a bid to cut pollution and tackle the climate crisis. In March 2022, 175 countries unanimously agreed to adopt a global plastic treaty to stop plastic pollution. Not only is the treaty set to address the issue of plastic waste, but it will address the “full lifecycle of plastics,” from the extraction […]