114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will end up in the bin, and not recycled, over the festive period estimate a group of environment charities including Friends of the Earth, the RSPCA, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts.

Their recently launched beach litter report revealed the tide of plastic has risen to a whopping 70% on UK beaches. The damage being done to the world’s oceans by plastic has been highlighted in the BBC’s flagship nature series Blue Planet II.

The charities say: “Government has the power to change the habits of our throwaway society. They can put a stop to the ongoing environmental disaster of ocean plastic pollution. We’d urge everyone to join our call to get charges introduced across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on single-use plastic items such as plastic cups and lids, straws, plates and cutlery”.

The Charities are currently calling on UK governments to put a charge on single-use plastic throwaway items and demanding that big fast food chains stop giving out millions of plastic cups, stirrers, straws and cutlery but instead replace them with reusable or fully compostable alternatives.

Sadly in Greater Manchester we cannot put many types of plastic in our ‘blue’ bins such as much of the packaging used by supermarkets or shops. To make a real difference we’re going to need to see action from Government (national and local), industry and from individuals taking action ourselves.