Over 68,000 people across the UK took part in The Big Plastic Count this year. Together, we counted over 1.5million pieces of plastic.

The results reveal that households in the UK throw away an estimated 82 billion pieces of plastic packaging every year!

Over half (59%) of our household plastic waste is being burnt here in the UK. Only 16% actually ends up being recycled. Another 16% is exported and 9% is buried in landfill.

Burning plastic is a big problem. It releases toxic gases that pollute the air we breathe, and can release more carbon dioxide per tonne than burning coal, worsening climate change.

Incinerators and waste sites are ten times more likely to be built in areas hit hardest by inequality – meaning more air pollution and higher health risks for under-served communities already facing an unfair system.

We are still exporting our plastic waste to other countries, often with even poorer recycling infrastructure than the UK. 16% of our plastic waste is exported, after which we don’t really know what happens to it.

Leaving communities in other countries to deal with the negative health and environmental impacts of our plastic waste is hugely unfair – and it’s allowing companies and the government to avoid taking responsibility.

The reality is, recycling simply cannot keep up with the sheer volume of plastic being produced. And vast quantities of it – like flexible plastics – are very difficult to recycle, with only limited capacity to do so in the UK.

Our recycling systems can’t cope.

And with oil and gas companies investing hundreds of billions of dollars in plastic production, it’s set to triple by 2060. The situation is becoming more and more urgent.

The Big Plastic Count found that 82% of our household plastic waste came from food and drink packaging – packaging that shoppers have hardly any control over.

Walk into any supermarket and you’ll see the scale of the problem right there on the shelves: almost all of our food and household products are wrapped in plastic packaging.

We need to buy food, but we shouldn't have to deal with thousands of pieces of plastic packaging every year.

An estimated 13 billion pieces of fruit and veg packaging are thrown away every year. 63% of which is soft, flexible plastic which is almost impossible to recycle at scale, especially in the UK. Which helps explain why 65% of fruit and veg packaging is incinerated instead of recycled.

It’s important to acknowledge that some plastic, including plastic-packaged, pre-prepared fruit and veg, is essential for many people to live safely and independently.

But when it comes to uncut fruit and vegetables – much of which already come with their own natural protection – not having the option to buy loose forces us to spend more on quantities we don’t want or need.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s alone account for nearly half (46%) of the fruit and veg packaging counted.

Plastic packaging is central to how supermarkets package, transport and sell large volumes of food.

While 93% of participants who answered an accompanying survey say they would prefer to buy loose produce if it were available, in reality shoppers are given little choice, as many everyday products are only available wrapped in plastic.

This is not a problem caused by individuals, but by systemic failure.

Instead of addressing the cause of the problem and cutting plastic production, the plastics crisis is treated as a waste issue – we focus on burning, recycling, or exporting it instead.

It’s like trying to mop up an overflowing bath instead of turning off the tap.

If less plastic is made, then less plastic is burned. It’s that simple.

Voluntary agreements by supermarkets are not delivering reductions in plastic packaging. We need stronger government policy.

Introducing legislation to remove plastic packaging from uncut fruit and vegetables would immediately cut billions of pieces of packaging from being thrown away and push supermarkets to scale reuse and refill systems.

Incineration accelerates climate change and harms our communities. As plastic production increases, incineration has expanded to deal with growing waste and new incinerators are being built.

We are therefore calling for an immediate ban on the construction of new waste incineration plants in England and Northern Ireland, bringing them into line with the restrictions already in place in Scotland and Wales.

Exporting plastic waste causes serious harm in other countries, outsources our plastic problem instead of solving it, and allows governments and companies to avoid responsibility.

That’s why we’re calling for a comprehensive, phased reduction in UK plastic waste exports, with a clear plan to end our reliance on them.