Food packaging generates the bulk of our everyday rubbish yet a recent survey revealed 40% of supermarket packaging is difficult to recycle. Packaging makes the product look bigger and for goods such as meat or vegetables often dictates the portion size, so we may buy more than we need. Whilst the report says the weight of packaging has reduced, the proportion that can be recycled has remained the same – see http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1623861

Retailers should have a duty to reduce unnecessary packaging and use biodegradable or properly marked recyclable materials. Currently we as consumers pay the price in higher council tax as part of the charge for landfill and refuse collection. The government should tax packaging at its source – the supermarkets and manufacturers should pay the cost, so they have the incentive to reduce this problem.

As consumers we should use local suppliers more, as they tend to use less packaging – such as buying from a butchers, rather than meat wrapped in a plastic tray and shrink wrapped from a supermarket. This also means we can dictate the portion size and ask for the size we can afford not what the supermarket thinks we can be forced to pay.

This is also a chance to support local retailers, for example the small traders in the Market Place at the Martlets, Burgess Hill and a thriving local shopping community in our town centre.