Closing the plastic bag charge loophole

One of the most heavily trailed announcements is the end of an exemption for small shops from England’s 5p plastic bag charge. The loophole was an anomaly compared with similar schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was also imposed against the wishes of corner shop owners at the time, with three small business trade associations opposing being exempted on the grounds it would be confusing for customers. “Its abolition is long overdue,” said Mary Creagh, chair of the environmental audit committee of MPs. The change will affect 3.4bn bags handed out at about 200,000 stores each year.

Encouraging plastic-free supermarket aisles

Wrap, the government’s waste action body, will explore whether supermarkets can introduce aisles where there is no plastic packaging and all the food is loose. The British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said its members were cutting plastic but that it was sometimes necessary to avoid food waste. It cited shrink-wrapped cucumbers, saying they last five times as long as ones without plastic. The eye-catching proposal is not something that campaigners have pushed hard for, though shoppers often protest on social media against egregious examples such as single bananas encased in plastic. All avoidable plastic waste should end by 2042, the government said.

Creating more habitat for wildlife

To arrest the decline in wildlife numbers in the face of intensive farming and land lost to housing and development, the environment department will investigate establishing 500,000 extra hectares of wildlife habitat. About 17,000 hectares of land is lost to new building each year. The measure is part of an effort to connect up large areas of nature to reflect the fact that animals need to move around the country – an increasingly difficult task with new roads and other developments. The environment secretary, Michael Gove, also promised to plant 11 million trees, which sounds like a lot but is the amount planted in England under government schemes during the coalition years. Experts at Kew said it was critical the right tree species were chosen to maximise benefits to wildlife and capturing carbon.

Changing local planning rules to boost biodiversity

Today, when a developer wants to build a new housing estate, supermarket or other building, local authorities have to ensure there is a net benefit to biodiversity – the variety of species in the area – when possible. The government said it will now consult on making this requirement mandatory. However, in the small print it also said it would consider “any exemptions that may be necessary.” It also said the measure should avoid increasing the burden on developers.

New environmental watchdog

Underpinning all the actions is the pledge of a “world-leading” and independent environmental watchdog to hold ministers’ feet to the fire. Gove has previously said that such a body would ensure standards on clean air, water and soil will be maintained post-Brexit. The 25-year plan today confirms that the government will consult on plans for the statutory body. It’s worth noting that the UK previously had an environment watchdog, known as the Sustainable Development Commission, before it was axed by the coalition in 2010 as part of the “bonfire of the quangos”.

Deciding on new protected areas around the coast

By July 2019, ministers will designate a third round of marine conservation zones, a network of areas in English seas designed to protect species from overfishing and other threats. Gove said he will ensure that: “these stretches of environmentally precious maritime heritage have the best possible protection.” The Marine Conservation Society said that while the timeline was welcome, it was concerned that the measures to enforce the areas lacked teeth. Previous governments have been criticised for watering down the number of zones.

What’s not in it

Gove mentions waste four times in his short foreword to the report, but there is no tangible plan or policy for how the government will move the dial on recycling. Recycling rates stalled in England in 2012 and in 2015 fell for the first time in more than a decade. Diverting waste away from landfill and into recycling centres largely falls on the shoulders of local authorities, which have been hit by austerity budget cuts. A 25p charge on disposable coffee cups, of which only one in 400 is recycled, is not mentioned in the environment plan.

Campaigners also expressed disappointment at the absence of a bottle collection scheme, which existed in the UK decades ago. Louise Edge of Greenpeace said: “The most glaring gap is support for deposit return schemes. These are tried-and-tested ways to keep plastic bottles out of the environment and have strong public backing, yet there’s no trace of them in the government announcement.” Creagh said such a scheme was the only way to “deliver true behavioural change.”