The Government made a ban on plastics the centrepiece of its 25 year Environment Plan, but leaked documents have since shown it is lobbying against the 65% recycling target for urban waste by 2035 which the EU is proposing. The 25 year plan aims for “zero avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042″, which is just too little, too late.

If plastic is avoidable, then we should be avoiding it as soon as feasibly possible. Our seas are already choking on plastic – we can’t keep going on like this for another 24 years.

And where the use of plastic is “unavoidable”, then we should be looking at other mechanisms to reduce the use of such plastics.

The plastic bag charge is a success. Single use plastic charges, whenever they come in, will undoubtedly be a success. And we should keep on extending these charges to polluting activities – so that the polluter pays – and no-one gets a free ticket to abuse and destroy the natural world upon which we all rely.

The deadline for zero avoidable plastic needs to be put into law, with appropriate sanctions in place. It will transform our economy, stimulate green businesses, and tell big polluters that time is up for their planet-harming businesses.