"Buy It Naked" say Gateshead Lib Dems

Liberal Democrats from Gateshead have welcomed a motion passed at the party’s conference in September to tackle excess packaging.

They say that Liberal Democrat plans to help consumers and retailers to ‘Buy It Naked’ would dramatically lessen the growing waste burden.

Britain’s total domestic waste is up 21% since 1997, while household recycling has increased from 6% to 23%. Packaging from food products and other household items accounts for 17% of the average home’s food budget.

While the Government has failed to meet the demands of an EU Directive passed to set targets for waste reduction, the Liberal Democrats have been labelled by an independent body as the greenest party in UK politics.

North East Euro MP Fiona Hall said, "Packaging accounts for around 5 million tonnes of waste per year. Considering total domestic waste in Britain is currently around 26 million tonnes per year, it is plain to see that packaging makes up a very significant contribution to the UK’s waste problem."

Councillor Jonathan Wallace said, "There is as much packaging used in the distribution process as there is from the shop to the consumer, but this is hidden because the consumer never sees it: the shop has to dispose of it."

Commenting on measures such as these that help customers to ‘BUY IT NAKED’, Fiona Hall said, "Supermarkets give away more than 17 billion plastic bags each year. Simple action to reduce the amount of plastic bags given away would have an immediate positive effect."

Photo: instead of using disposable carrier bags, Lib Dems Jonathan Wallace and Fiona Hall MEP want shops to make it easier for people to use reusable bags and cut down on packaging.