Better Packaging

Eastbourne’s MP is being urged to put pressure on the Government to tackle manufacturers regarding packaging.  It is proposed that our MP urge the Government to take action on ‘over-packaging’ and also to increase the number of goods packed in recyclable materials. 

Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Spokesperson for Housing, Health and Community Services, Councillor Sandie Howlett says, “I find it very frustrating and disappointing that a large amount of the rubbish that goes into my household rubbish is plastic that I can't recycle - either food packaging or polythene carrier bags from shops.  I fill two recycling boxes with tins, glass, paper etc and I can recycle plastic bottles and cardboard at the local supermarkets yet I have no choice over the packaging from supermarkets and shops - it doesn't make sense to me.  If an item as fragile as eggs can be packed in a cardboard box then surely it is possible to package other goods in this way.”

Kerbside recycling collections take place every fortnight for glass bottles and jars, tins and cans, paper and now textiles and shoes.  The town also has 25 bring sites for recyclables, eight of which accept plastic bottles and seven which take cardboard.  Residents can also subscribe to a fortnightly green garden waste collection; there are also two ‘green bring sites’ which operate every Saturday morning which are free to use.

As an example - a box of small pies would involve each pie being individually placed in a tin tray, then all the pies would put in a plastic tray, covered in plastic wrapping and finally sold inside a cardboard box.