The UK would save 3.9 billion plastic bottles from being produced by 2020 if they were banned from the workplace, according to a new campaign launched by officer provider Desk.co.uk.
The campaign aims to eliminate single use plastic bottles, and says that removing them from workplaces across the UK would save 156,000 tonnes of plastic a year.
"Thirty percent of all plastic drinking bottles are used in the workplace, which works out at a staggering 3.9 billion bottles a year in the UK," said Jonathan Ratcliffe of Desk.co.uk.
“You have people sitting at work drinking from single use plastic bottles, when a walk to the kitchen to refill a glass would help cut over 156,000 tonnes of plastic from being produced in the first place.”
"Recycling plastic is well and good, but if we didn’t make the things in the first place it just wouldn't be an issue," he added. "There is a huge push by office providers up and down the country to reduce both waste and energy consumption and we need help. We need the Government to step in."
Plastic Push
Recently, a number of measures have been introduced in the UK to cut down on single use plastic bottles.
Yesterday, the Guardian reported that London mayor Sadiq Khan has plans to roll out a new network of water fountains and bottle-refill stations across the capital.
Meanwhile, last week, UK retailers Co-op and Iceland came out in support of a bottle deposit return scheme, which is being proposed by environmental organisation Greenpeace.
The proposed plan would see retailers increase the price of plastic bottles, but allow customers to get their money back when they return the empty bottles.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
