Lib Dems back Jo Swinson plans to tackle excess packaging

4.55.00pm GMT Fri 29th Feb 2008

Jo's plans to cut excess packaging were backed by delegates at Lib Dem conference

Scottish Liberal Democrats have backed proposals to tackle excess packaging set out by Jo Swinson MP at the party's Spring Conference in Aviemore today.

Jo Swinson delivered a speech to the conference that set out proposals to combat over-packaging, including:

• Waste points in large supermarkets to allow consumers to remove and deposit packaging before they leave the store;

• Better resourcing for Trading Standards officers to tackle producers of excess packaging;

• Improved packaging regulations, so the law favours Trading Standards, not excess packaging producers;

• The Scottish Executive to press the UK Government to bring in binding packaging reduction targets instead of the current voluntary targets.

Speaking to the Liberal Democrat conference, Jo said:

"The average household in Scotland sends over a tonne of packaging - each - to landfill every year. Once there, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, fuelling climate change.

"Consumers are being ripped off - paying three times over for excess packaging. We pay the cost of the packaging at the checkout, we pay in increased council taxes and landfill taxes, and we will all be paying the environmental cost of more waste going to landfill for years to come.

"Today, prompted by the Daily Mail, the Prime Minister promised action on plastic bags. But what Gordon Brown needs to realise is that plastic bags are only the tip of the iceberg. Rather than media sound bites, we need real action. For a start, the Government could implement the measures I outlined in the Bill I presented to Parliament last year.

"What is really needed is a sustained movement by politicians, producers and the public towards greener packaging, and less packaging."

Related Link:

Scottish Liberal Democrats