Reducing Use of Plastics in Jersey Review - Clare Humpleby - Submission - 4 September 2018

Dear Scrutiny Panel,

My family and I will be re-locating back to live in Jersey later this month, having been living in Hong Kong for 4 years. We love Jersey and so I was pleased to hear about the opportunity to provide my views on recycling / single use plastic to the Panel.

One of our main drivers for deciding to return home to live in Jersey is the wonderful environment we have on the Island. However, my family spent 5 weeks of the Summer holidays back in Jersey and were saddened to find our expectation of how it was likely to be more forward thinking' regarding single use plastic than Hong Kong was not a reality!

I saw the Documentary 'Plastic Oceans' recently (https://plasticoceans.org/about-a-plastic-ocean/) with that in mind I read with interest (attached) the letter to the JEP from a visitor to the Island (Andrew Coles ) who's experience very much reflected my own.

About A Plastic Ocean | PlasticOceans.org plasticoceans.org

A Plastic Ocean is an award-winning documentary film from Plastic Oceans. It is directed by Craig Leeson and has one over a dozen prestigious awards.

I would love to see Jersey being at the forefront of the focus for reduced single use plastics (and other items) and recycling and have outlined below a few of my views that I hope may provide a contribution to the discussion.

Improved Policy to prevent Single Use Plastic (and Single Use items in general) entering our supply chain:

I consider that Jersey is ideally positioned, being an Island community where it is possible to laregely control what enters the Island, to make changes that reduce the amount of single use plastic/ single use items that enter our environment in the first place.

Preventing these items entering the supply chain would go some way to reducing the heavy reliance on changing attitudes at an individual level.

I agree with the following section included in the report of the Wildlife and Countryside link (https://www.wcl.org.uk/docs/Wildlife%20and%20Countryside%20Link%20submission%20to%20tac kling%20the%20plastic%20problem%20consultation.pdf)

Tackling the plastic problem: Using the tax system or ... www.wcl.org.uk

2 SUMMARY OF KEY RECOMMENDATIONS Plastic pollution is an environmental emergency and the Government need to treat it as such. Up to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic leak into the oceans each year, a figure

Policy should be designed according to waste hierarchy principles so that, in the following order:

1. Producers and retailers remove unnecessary plastics, without substitution, and supply chains are (re)designed to reduce, so far as is possible, the need for single use plastics in the first place

2. Where (a) is not viable, single-use items are replaced with reusable alternatives, and supply chains are (re)designed to increase the viability of the most sustainable, reusable alternatives
3. Where (b) is not viable, single-use plastics are substituted with alternative materials which are themselves subject to tightened sustainability regulations'

The current resolution of Plastic Free Jersey seems to me very soft' and I feel that a stronger commitment must be considered as it does not currently seem to have the momentum and drive for the necessary change needed on the Island.

Jersey has an opportunity to introduce and enforce schemes across the Island that are adopted from best practice in other countries (one example might be the Deposit Return Scheme's seen in Germany, (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/could-a-money-back-scheme- clean-up-the-uks-plastic-bottle-plague).

Could a money-back scheme clean up the UK's plastic bottle ... www.theguardian.com

Deposit return schemes for plastic bottles have been shown to cut litter and increase recycling in many countries – but not everyone agrees they're a good idea

I was initially encouraged by the Straws suck' initiative in Jersey but all too often these seem to rely on individuals taking action. I found retailers and cafes still offering (seemingly without thought) a huge volume of single use plastic - from straws to bags to packaging on food and few people I observed seemed to be considering the impact as they accepted' these items.

Surely there should be collective consultation and action with key bodies across the Island, such as the Jersey Retail Association and Jersey Hospitality Association, to adopt a best practice approach to resolve this - and where necessary the Government should then put in place measures to enforce Policy with appropriate action.

Whilst I would love to see Single Use plastic reduced significantly by reducing it entering the supply chain there also needs to be improvement to the recycling opportunities and facilities across the Island.

The Policy on recycling needs to be consistent across all Parishes.

How can it be that across the Island different Parishes have a different approach to recycling?

Whilst it is excellent that there is a central recycling area, it seems to me that if every member of the wider community must play a part in sustainable waste management then the recycling opportunities must be equally available and easily accessible to all.

As a personal example, I was staying at Samares Manor for 5 weeks during the Summer holidays. Because this was self-catering accommodation I continued to separate my rubbish for recycling when I first arrived but, upon asking, found only glass is collected now from the site and no longer plastic. I understand that this particular Parish has changed it approach to re-cycling for commercial businesses - why?

Increased education and awareness of all Stakeholders:

Perhaps there is a lack of awareness of the short and long term impacts of Single Use plastics that is an issue for both businesses and individuals on the Island and halting the need for urgent change?

Hong Kong also has a very long way to go to reduce single use plastic but there is more visable public advertising of Government intiatives.

(One recent focus was on reducing disposable cutlery on beaches: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201807/19/P2018071900259.htm)

There are also action groups such as: DB GREEN www.dbgreen.org and Plastic Free Seas: https://plasticfreeseas.org/index.html , which co-ordinate beach clean up's, fundraising and other initiatives to raise awareness of the impact. This increased publicity does seem to lead to community action and drives change.

Also at individual level there could be more focus on understanding and one area of education of the public is on the practicalities of successful recycling!

For example, the rules' of recycling (example of 4 Golden Rules of recycling' from DB green). At FB fields I found:

· The recycling only took glass, paper, cardboard and plastic bottles - but not other hard plastics. Why not?

· Upon looking in the recycling bins a number had mixed up' materials.

In conclusion, my view is that the current Plastic Free Jersey is not going far enough!

We need better joined up' Policy across the island, improved collaboration with key bodies, better education and awareness and appropriate incentives and (where necessary) enforcement to ensure the Island leads the way in protecting both our local enviroment and being an example of a leading jurasdiction for management of our single use plastic waste.

The Wildlife and Countryside link outlines an aim which I agree needs to also be adopted in Jersey.

As a general set of principles any taxes, charges or bans should aim to reduce single- use items both at production and point of consumption, reduce the number of polymers on the market, encourage increased recycling rates and increased recycled content, prioritise actual recycling of items before down-cycling and focus on easy and cost- effective recycling'

I look forward to seeing the outcome of consultation from the Public from the Scrutiny Panel and very much hope to see positive change inititiated in Jersey in the very near future.

Kind Regards, Clare Humpleby