Page 12 - Spring 2023 e-Newsletter (ENG)

Policy and research in action
How many of us imagined when we
were children that we would be able to
speak to friends on the other side of the
world through our computer screens or
be asking Alexa to switch off the lights?
The incredible tools that many of
use every day have all been achieved
through ground-breaking research. But
despite the technological innovation,
we are still working out how to prevent
litter and live alongside each other in a
way that doesn’t wreck the planet.
Policy and research underpin everything
we do at Keep Wales Tidy. We have
a dedicated team of experts who
continually monitor key issues, develop
guidance, and evaluate the impact of all
our initiatives.
Every year our officers can be seen
pacing up and down roads, mobile
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill will mean
phones in hand, often muttering under
their breath as they count littered items
on streets acrossthe length and breadth
of Wales.
Collecting data about types of litter
and understanding the reasons behind
it allows us to fight for better laws and
strategies that stop the problem at
source.
Did you know that Keep Wales Tidy has
been actively involved in two changes
which will soon start to make Wales a
cleaner and more sustainable place?
In 2022, the Senedd passed a law which
will ban a range of frequently littered
single-use plastic items which could
remain in the environment for hundreds
of years. Our street cleanliness surveys
provided invaluable data to prove this
law was needed.
that from autumn 2023 retailers will need to stop selling these single use plastic
items:
● Cutlery
● Plates
● Stirrers
● Drinking straws (unless for health needs)
● Plastic stemmed cotton buds
● Balloon sticks
● Polystyrene fast-food containers, cups and lids
The second important step towards Keep Wales Tidy has been a strong
reducing litter is confirmation that Wales supporter of this move and the data we
will go ahead with a drink’s container have collected and shared with Welsh
deposit return scheme. A small deposit Government shows how much impact
will be paid on every plastic bottle, can this can have.
or glass bottle and this will be reclaimed
when the container is returned to the Our street cleanliness surveys are
retailer. regularly finding plastic bottles on at least
11% of streets and drinks cans on at least
This gives a real value to something 13%. This adds up to many thousands of
which has too easily be discarded by containers being dropped on our streets
some individuals as waste. It also means in a year. We can look forward to this
that a much greater proportion of these figure rapidly falling once the deposit is
containers will be recycled, and this will introduced.
help with reducing the carbon footprint
of our packaging. Wales will now start We’ll be releasing our latest street
preparing for its introduction in 2025. cleanliness data very soon, so stay tuned.
If you have a policy or research question, get in touch with a member of the
team at leq@keepwalestidy.cymru.
You can also keep up to date on all the latest on Twitter @KWT_Policy