Excess packaging
We are calling on residents to say ‘no’
to excess packaging and help reduce the amount of packaging in
household bins.
It’s estimated that over ten million tonnes of
packaging waste is produced in the UK and used packaging accounts
for around one-fifth of the weigh of a household dustbin.
By reducing the amount of packaging in the
dustbin helps the local authority to achieve recycling targets and
to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.
Residents are urged to not only recycle their
rubbish but also to reduce packaging waste and to get businesses to
reduce packaging on their products.
What can you do to cut down on packaging?
- As a consumer you can make a real difference.
Some examples are listed below:
- Only buy what you need to avoid wastage
- Use reusable bags instead of disposable
plastic bags
- Buy refills where they exist – many
detergents & cleaning products offer refills
- Buy fruit and vegetables loose, not
pre-packaged
- Drink tap water or filtered tap water rather
than buying bottled mineral water
- Ask for tap water instead of bottled mineral
water when ordering in restaurants
- Select goods with minimal packaging
- Buy re-usable goods instead of single use
items i.e. re-usable dish cloths, razors, dusters and nappies
- Use the supermarket recycling banks to drop
off your unwanted packaging
- Buy recycled - buying products made from
recycled materials helps to close the recycling loop
What can you do to get businesses to cut down on packaging on
their goods?
- Remove excess packaging and hand it back to
the store
- Complain to the store if the goods are
over-packaged
- Report to Trading Standards goods that are
needlessly over-packaged – if the goods were bought in Tower
Hamlets please complete
our online form.
What the law says
The Packaging (Essential Requirements)
Regulations introduced in 1998 require packaging volume and weight
to be ‘limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the
necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed
product and for the consumer’.
Packaging should also be designed to permit
its recovery by means of recycling, incineration for energy
recovery, or composting / biodegradation, and to reduce the level
of hazardous materials contained in it to a minimum.
The obligation to ensure that these
regulations are complied with lies with the “responsible person”.
This is usually the packer/filler of the product or the importer of
the packed product
Trading Standards Officers have responsibility
for enforcing these regulations.
Contacting us about over-packaged goods
If you have bought or have identified a
product on sale within Tower Hamlets that is over-packaged and you
want Trading Standards to investigate then please complete
our online form.
Alternatively, please call us on 020 7364
5008. If the goods were bought outside the borough please call
Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.