JIM HUME LEADS DEBATE INTO TACKLING EXCESS PACKAGING (Jim Hume)

JIM HUME LEADS DEBATE INTO TACKLING EXCESS PACKAGING

June 12, 2008 12:00 AM

Jim Hume, MSP for the South of Scotland and Shadow Environment spokesperson, has led a debate in the Scottish Parliament about tackling excess packaging.

Although much of the legislation governing excess packaging is reserved to Westminster, Mr Hume is urging the Scottish Government to use the devolved powers available to them to improve recycling and waste minimisation rates.

Jim Hume said:-

"The UK Government's Waste Resources Action Programme says that families in the UK now spend some £470 on packaging each year - one sixth of their food budget. The UK dumps 5 million tonnes of packaging each year - Scotland's share of that is 1 million tonnes.

"Much of the legislation governing excess packaging is reserved to Westminster where Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson is leading the fight to change the law on packaging. But this doesn't mean that the Scottish Government can wash its hands of this issue. My motion, calling on the Scottish Government to use devolved powers to tackle this issue has attracted cross party support and will be debated by MSPs today.

The MSP continued:-

"I want to see tackling excess packaging as a central objective for the Scottish Government's Supermarket Summit. This should be backed up by Ministers working with product designers and manufacturers to encourage them to use sustainable designs and materials. The Scottish Government could also develop improved packaging guidelines and should make it easier for consumers to complain if they feel the packaging around products is unnecessary."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The text of Mr Hume's motion that was debated tonight is below:

S3M-01787# Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): Tackling Excess Packaging - That the Parliament welcomes the innovation and success of the state-of-the-art Eco Deco waste treatment plant near Dumfries which is the first facility of its kind in Scotland; notes that by using advanced technology the plant can process up to 65,000 tonnes of waste a year, recovering resources from waste and eliminating the need for several kerbside boxes and bags as well as wheeled bins; regrets that the UK's levels of waste production are increasing exponentially, with approximately one million tonnes of packaging waste produced in Scotland each year; notes that, although packaging regulations are largely reserved to Westminster, waste management including waste minimisation and recycling are devolved to Scotland, and therefore believes that tackling excess packaging should be a central objective of the forthcoming supermarket summit and that decisive action should be taken to reduce excess packaging through all available levers, including working with product designers and manufacturers in Scotland to encourage sustainable design and sustainable products, developing improved packaging guidelines for adoption by retailers and their suppliers, introducing further Producer Responsibility initiatives and installing ambitious recovery obligations in the producer responsibility regulations for packaging, developing improved systems for consumers to complain to retailers and Trading Standards officers about excess packaging, and that waste points should be provided in supermarkets where customers can deposit unwanted packaging.