More than one million birds, and over 100,000 other sea mammals and turtles, die every year from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste. Protecting our oceans and wildlife from the scourge of plastic is central to our ambitions to deliver a green Brexit.

For 2018, the Government has made a commitment to take action to protect our environment and reduce harmful waste.

- Statistics have shown that the 5p carrier bag charge has led to 9 billion fewer carrier bags in circulation, a drop of 83 per cent.

- The Government are banning microbeads and have doubled litter fines.

- They have also issued a call for evidence on taxing and charging the most environmentally damaging, single-use plastics.

- The Environment Secretary is considering a four point plan to tackle plastic waste. This includes reducing the number of plastics that are in use, cutting single-use plastics such as straws and coffee cups, improving the recycling rate and making it easier for families to tell what can be recycled and what has to go in the general rubbish bin.
