Policymakers from across the world are back at the negotiating table in the hope of finalising international regulations to end plastic pollution. But in spite of what we know, disposable carrier bags are on the rise in Britain.
According to data from this year’s Plasticblitz2025 — an annual UK initiative led by environmental charity Thames21, with support from the Environment Agency and Rotary — volunteers spent 133 hours cleaning a record 65km of riverbank between late-May and early-June 2025.
The initiative covered 22% more area than the same campaign last year, and citizen-scientists encountered and removed almost 17,400 individual pieces of litter. Highlighting the extent of the problem, 71% of these items were found to be plastic or predominantly plastic.
‘Cleaning up rivers requires action from everybody, and it’s really positive to hear that thanks to all the volunteers even more riverbanks have been cleaned compared to previous years. Environment Agency staff were happy to take part and help with the clean up at the same time as gathering data on the problem,’ Maria Herlihy, Operations and Waterways Manager at the Environment Agency, tells us.
The numbers have been released as UN negotiations resume in Geneva with the aim of agreeing on a legally-binding, global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. So far talks have largely focused on mitigation and removal, something many working within ecology, environmental science and waste management believe is missing the point.
‘These negotiations hinge on two key questions: should we cap plastic production, and should we limit harmful chemicals added to plastics? Countries are split – with the High Ambition Coalition pushing for full lifecycle regulation, including reducing production of fossil-fuel-based plastic, while oil-producing states argue plastics are only a waste management issue,’ says Professor Rosalind Malcolm, Co-Director of the Governing Plastics Network from Surrey Law School
‘A strong, legally binding treaty must address the root causes and our research at Surrey is addressing these governance issues. That means limiting plastic production, restricting problem chemical additives, mandating ecological design and introducing clear labelling,’ she continues. ‘Crucially, we must support developing countries to adopt cleaner, more sustainable practices. Without these measures, we risk falling short of real, lasting change.’
In the UK, over the past decade plastic use has come under increased scrutiny, with demand falling for single-use plastics in particular alongside the settings in which it can legally be used. However, the latest data from the single-use carrier bag charge scheme suggests sales are no longer falling, and have actually begun to rise — betraying how difficult it is to try and eradicate such products from the economy.
Looking at the figures for 2024-25, eight single-use plastic bags were bought per UK resident, with the seven largest retailers selling 164million units. This is up 6% on the previous year, although it still represents 88% less than the 12 months to January 2017, and a 98% reduction since shops first began charging for disposable carrier bags in 2015.
‘While single-use plastic bags are down significantly from when the charge was introduced, it is slightly concerning that they have risen sharply in the past year and there are as many as 437million bags in circulation,’ explains David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Reconomy Connect, a brand by Reconomy, the international circular economy specialist.
‘These bags will inevitably end up being sent to landfill or incinerated instead of being circulated back into the economy,’ Gudgeon continues. ‘As a country, the UK remains far too reliant on the extraction of virgin materials to satisfy consumption demand with only 6.9% of resources making their way back into the economy. This material extraction is driving unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions and the UK is consuming virgin resources faster than the world can regenerate them.’
For some, the answer is replacing traditional plastics with biodegradable alternatives. British firms are taking a strong lead in this area, with plastic-free film produced by PlantSea recently winning a grant from The Royal Society of Chemistry. Just one example, a number of scientists at Symphony Environmental Technologies also agree the market urgently needs ecological replacements.
‘Plastic itself isn’t the problem,’ says Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony Environmental. ‘Swapping it for paper, glass, or so-called ‘compostables’ won’t solve the environmental crisis – in many cases, it will make it worse. According to a 2023 UNEP report, replacing plastics with conventional alternatives could triple greenhouse gas emissions by 2060. We need smarter materials, not symbolic bans.
‘Plastic bans have been driven by public outrage over ocean pollution, and the way to deal with this is to make the plastic so that it safely biodegrades if it gets into the open environment instead of lying or floating around for decades. The two protagonists at the UN Conference are not even talking about this possibility,’ he continues. ‘Our d2w® technology ensures that plastic packaging degrades into biodegradable materials within a timescale of months, not decades or centuries. This isn’t a license to litter – it’s a fail-safe for a global waste problem that governments cannot fully control.’
Campaigners are now calling on those at the Geneva conference to recognise the potential of advanced biodegradable plastic materials and incentivise those conducting research in this area. The full life cycle of any products that could be used as a replacement for traditional plastics should also be taken into account before any decision is made on new regulations, or there is a real risk of doing more harm than good.
Image: Brett Wharton / Unsplash
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