Sailor and campaigner Dame Ellen Macarthur says manufacturers must change their designs to fit within a recycling system.

Speaking at the Redefining Packaging conference, hosted by the packaging firm DS Smith in London this week, she said: “We need to design out waste in production and keep it in use as long as possible. An idea is simple, but it takes a vast amount of collaboration to make it work. You can’t do it alone.

“Companies need to say, ‘what does success look like for a circular economy’ and then work together to make that happen.”

It came as the government announced a ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds as part of a plan to tackle plastic pollution. The ban on the supply of the items will start in April 2020.

In their new report DS Smith advocate replacing plastic trays on shelves in supermarkets with corrugate alternatives, as well as removing plastic punnets, shrink wrap, black plastic in ready meals and other plastic packaging used for meat, cheese and fish products.

Miles Roberts, CEO of DS Smith, also highlighted the issue of London’s “Victorian infrastructure” as a barrier to waste collection as well as communication issues about recycling. He said: “We can recycle a coffee cup, but if you put in a banana skin makes it rather more difficult. Likewise if you throw away coffee cups full of coffee. But it’s not too much of a problem as long as people are aware of it.”

Dame Ellen, who has partnered with DS Smith in a move to boost the circular economy, remarked that manufacturers need to change their designs to fit within a recycling system. She said: “We need to look at what goes into the system, and have regulation around packaging."

At the event Linda Crichton, an advisor at DEFRA, added that ministers are pushing the department to move faster than originally planned where practical, and that they are focussing on making plastic recycling consistent.

Currently authorities collect different materials for plastic recycling, with boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham still unable to collect mixed plastics for recycling.