Original subtitles

1.8 million tonnes of plastic are being made in the UK

and a third of it is being made right here.

Every three seconds, you're bagging up 25 kilos of plastic.

On this bagging unit. There's another one behind us.

Billions and billions and billions

of tiny pellets of plastic

leaving this factory - today, tomorrow, every single day.

Where are they going to end up?

So far, in our war on plastic, Anita and I have challenged

a street to ditch their single use plastic.

So, are you up for it?

ALL: Yes!

And she's taken their frustrations...

£1.66.

Oh, God. I spent 69p.

..to the companies who are churning it out.

Hi.

We will make sure we've got a competitive price.

What does "competitive" mean?

It's like some dystopian nightmare.

I've been finding out how we can fix our recycling system.

Plastic waste that I found in Malaysia from the UK.

Yes, that's terrible.

And now I want to know if big business

is ready to reduce the pile.

The absolute amount of plastic could double.

Anita joins two young campaigners

tackling plastic giveaway toys.

We want to speak to the sustainability department.

They can't, I'm afraid.

We can't speak to anybody? I'll talk to you outside.

And as our street experiment reaches its climax...

..we both discover how much we can all do to kick our plastic habit.

So, shall we do the results? Shall we do the count?

Here it comes...

ANITA: Hugh and I kicked off the experiment with the residents

of 22 houses on a street in East Bristol three months ago.

Here's some baskets for you all, get going.

We counted all their single use plastic -

the packaging that contains our everyday essentials

for just a few days or weeks before we throw it away.

From the total, we estimated the amount in our homes

across the whole country.

19.5 billion...

..bits of single use plastic

in houses up and down the country today.

That's not cool.

The Streets have been trying to reduce the amounts of this plastic

in their lives,

tackling it in the kitchen...

Go on, press it. Hey! Oops, there you go.

..and in the bathroom.

That whole side of the bath was covered in plastic bottles.

Stuff that we weren't really using, as well.

Now, in the final month of the experiment,

the street are looking at how plastic is ingrained in family life.

At least two thirds of toys are made from plastic -

taking advantage of it being a colourful, durable

and cheap material.

Whoo!

This is you, Ma.

What does it do?

Since starting the experiment, Jackson's mum Carlene

has been more aware of the number

of plastic toys he no longer uses.

It's unavoidable, I suppose, when you've got family members

who just buy stuff.

It can be a little bit frustrating when you see how much toys he has.

You've got two of those, haven't you? Yeah.

We're going to make a box of toys that you don't play with,

is that OK? Yeah. Right.

So, do you want to help Mummy choose your toys up upstairs?

No.

Most of his toys up here, he doesn't play with.

Over a quarter of parents admit to throwing away toys

that are in perfect working order.

But Carlene has a different plan.

Bye-bye, Mr Potato Head.

Say, "See you later, mate."

See you later, mate.

In the box.

Bye!

He had a little bit of a Despicable Me moment.

These are all McDonald's. Shall we get rid of these toys? Yeah.

You don't want to keep them? No.

Shall we give that away, Jackson,

or do you want to keep that one keep back?

Keep that one. Keep your car?

Yeah. Beep-beep!

Carlene's arranged to meet up with a group of friends

for a toy swap.

Hi, Jackson! Hi, Carlene!

You know I'm going to leave with nothing.

Fuzzy felt faces?!

I love this.

That's so cute. I might have a little peruse for my nephew.

It's a way of clearing out our house,

cutting down the amount of plastic that we would normally buy.

It's quite a nice get-together as well.

A win-win situation for everyone. Yeah. She loves Peppa Pig!

Plastic's durability means that toys can last a long time

and many of Jackson's are already finding a new home.

They've got such a short window of using these things,

but they're really useful when they're at that stage. Yeah.

Oh, look at that!

But are all toys a good use of plastic?

So, these were like McDonald's ones.

I don't think so. No.

In our house, they kind of end up in pieces

and then end up in the bin quite quickly, so...

..we don't need any more plastic like that. Are you sure?

OK. That's fine.

Back they go. Not going to be offended.

Every year, hundreds of millions of toys are given away in the UK

to help sell products.

They're hidden in chocolates...

Nine times out of ten, with the toys, you open it up, make it

and then, within about 30 seconds, they break anyway.

..pasted to the front of kids' magazines...

That...

..is going to be for you to catch your little bug.

Oh. Uh-oh.

It's been open about 30 seconds.

Rocky managed to break it.

..and dished out free with fast food meals.

How long does he play with the toys for?

Not very long. We usually chuck them in the bin by the end of the day.

What have you got there? Happy Meal!

Come on, let's have a look.

Who is this? He doesn't know.

Did you play with them for very long? No. No.

How long? Five minutes.

Five minutes?! Yeah.

So, if these giveaway toys

aren't wanted enough by parents or kids to be passed on,

what are we supposed to do with them?

To find out, I've come to a facility that sorts the recycling

for part of East London

to meet the CEO of the Recycling Association, Simon Ellin.

The big problem here, you can see there, toys -

because if they come through in the household waste to a facility

like this, which is not designed to separate toys,

they're a contaminant.

Simon's gathered together a pile of toys

that have been picked out of this recycling stream

over the last 24 hours.

There we go. What?!

That's so sad.

And when we take a closer look through the pile...

Look at that, McDonald's.

There's another one.

..I'm struck by just how many of them are giveaway toys.

Look at that! That's not even been opened.

It's such a throwaway culture, isn't it? What's this one?

That's Burger King.

That's a Burger King one, is it? That's a Burger King one.

It's not just McDonald's, is it?

You know, we found all sorts of other toys.

You get the Kinder eggs, you know. You get it on your magazines.

They're by no means the only offender

but they are, in my experience, the biggest offender.

Clearly many kids and parents think they're doing the right thing

by putting their giveaway toys in the recycling.

I wonder what McDonald's say about them.

All right. So, are McDonald's toys recyclable?

It says, "Can Happy Meal toys be recycled?

"Yes, they can."

That's the first thing it says here.

Yeah. Can they?

Sorry, McDonald's, I don't agree with you.

You're saying, "Yes, they are."

Technically, these would be recyclable

but there's so many different types of polymers,

polymers that are bonded together,

a tiny, tiny proportion are ever going to get recycled

because lots of manufacturers will say it's recyclable.

In theory, it is. In practice, it's just not going to happen.

This has really shocked me, actually, Simon, really.

McDonald's add that their toys with electronic components

can be put in a designated electronics recycling bin.

But even if they reach one of these at a local authority centre,

it's rarely economically viable to actually recycle them,

and the non-electronic toys contain mixed plastic

so they're also most likely to end up being incinerated or in landfill.

Would you believe now McDonald's are the biggest distributors

of toys in the world?

No, they're not?!

1.4 billion toys with their Happy Meals.

Simon, you've just blown my mind. Yeah.

McDonald's?! McDonald's.

They've got to take the lead on this and they've got to say...

The solution is in the hands of the producer.

Where are they going to end up? In landfill?

Being burnt?

They're just churning them out.

Churning out billions of the things,

and kids aren't even opening the blooming packets.

It's madness!

When I write to McDonald's about the issue,

they reply insisting that,

when families are finished playing with them,

many of the toys can be recycled in local authority sites

where the appropriate facilities are available.

It's not just the recycling industry

that feel that giveaway toys are a problem.

I've read an article

about two girls who are campaigning

against single use plastic toys.

I was so impressed

that I've come all the way down to Southampton

specifically to meet them,

and what will surprise you, as it did me...

..is their ages.

Hi. Hello, girls. Hello. How are you doing?

Hi, there. Hello. Hi.

You must be...

At nine and seven years old, Ella and Caitlin

are the youngest campaigners I've ever met.

Come on, then.

Shall we sit down? Yeah.

So, girls, tell me what you've been up to.

So, we've been doing a plastic petition thing

against, like, Burger King and McDonald's

using their plastic toys in kids meals...

..and we've got quite a few signatures.

I thought kids loved toys.

What's the problem with these toys?

Dangerous plastic.

It pollutes the world

when you drop it on the floor

and it goes to the sea and hurts the fishes.

Shall we have a look at the petition? Yeah. OK.

How many signatures have you got?

BOTH: 163,572.

What?!

That's incredible.

Yes.

You've definitely tapped into something.

So, what are you going to do next?

Probably write a letter. Good idea.

Who would you write a letter to? McDonald's. And Burger King,

and ask to, like, meet up or tell them about the petition,

or something like that.

I think that's a really good idea. OK. I'll go and get some paper.

"To McDonald's...

"..we're writing to tell you we think...

"..your toys are bad for the environment..."

"..and we think you should stop selling them with your kids meals.

"We would like to meet you to discuss it, from Ella and Caitlin."

So, we're ready? We're going to send one to Burger King.

one to McDonald's. Yep. See what happens. Yeah.

Imagine if I came back and said, "We'd like to meet you."

Can I come with you?

Yeah. Yeah?

OK. Excellent.

All we need now is a stamp

and to close the envelopes.

I'll be very interested to hear

how Burger King and McDonald's reply

to these two young campaigners.

HUGH: For months now, I've been investigating

what happens to single use plastics

after we've finished with them,

and I've discovered that our recycling system

needs an urgent overhaul.

In Malaysia, I was shocked to discover

where some of it has been ending up.

Oh, Sainsbury's.

Sainsbury's.

Sainsbury's.

M&S Yorkshire puddings.

Like many developed countries,

we've been sending most of our plastic for recycling abroad

because we just don't have the capacity to deal with it at home.

Looks to me like the whole of this wall is from the UK.

Stop the exporting of your plastic waste to our country.

Why should our waste end up here for you guys to deal with? Yes.

How have we arrived at this madness?

Our love affair with plastic took off in the 1950s.

Here it is, the most amazing food wrap ever developed.

Limited only by the imagination of the minds of men.

Over just a few decades,

it found its way into every part of our home.

And as the production of plastics boomed...

The age of plastics can certainly be described as, "Right now."

..its low cost and promise of convenience

meant we could treat it more and more expendably.

Being disposable,

there are no empties to collect.

Saran-Wrap is a product of the Dow Chemical Company.

What's often called "virgin plastic" is made from oil and gas

by a handful of large petrochemical companies.

Now that we're aware of the issue of plastic pollution,

it seems reasonable to expect

we might be slowing down the rate

that we're producing the stuff.

So, what are the plastic industry's plans for the future?

I've just been sent a graph

which shows they're not planning to slow down any time soon.

I mean, the graph is going like that.

A leading environmental scientist at the University of California

has pulled together the global data

on plastic production

and it reveals that the rate of increase is ramping up.

From the beginning of this century to now,

plastic production has doubled, from 200 million tonnes per year

to passing 400 million tonnes,

and it's accelerating

so that it's due to double again,

passing the 800 million tonnes a year mark by about 2040.

The graph was sent to me by the president

of the Center for International Environmental Law

Carroll Muffett.

So, the plastics industry

has plans for massive expansion.

What is driving that?

In a word, the fracking boom.

Fracking for shale gas has made natural gas really, really cheap

and, as a result, it's made the plastics feedstocks

really, really cheap,

and that is driving a massive expansion in the infrastructure

to make new plastics.

So, fracking for shale gas is making plastics cheaper?

Over the next few years, we will see more than 200 billion

in new investments for plastics and petrochemicals.

Wow, this is a lot to take on board.

I just had no idea what the scale of this issue is.

It was nice talking with you.

If shale gas is behind a new plastics boom in the US,

what's happening here in the UK?

Carroll suggests I look up a company called Ineos.

Ineos, the word for chemicals.

Jim Radcliffe, a profile by...

Jim Radcliffe?! I've heard of Jim Radcliffe!

Jim Radcliffe owns Ineos.

Jim Radcliffe is Britain's richest man.

"Many of the things you used during the day

"that are made using chemicals, we've had a hand in,"

he says with a smile.

Plastics, Radcliffe.

OK, here we go.

"Dear Sir Jim..."

20% of Ineos' plastic business

is making plastic packaging.

And just one of their facilities

is responsible for a third of the 1.8 million tonnes of plastic

produced in the UK every year,

so I'm delighted when they say they're happy for me to visit

that site at Grangemouth in Scotland.

I know, from experience, that, when you get invited in

by a big company like this, there's always a story they want to tell.

I'm expecting it to be pretty slick.

A big, shiny, plastic future for us all to be proud of,

but I've also got some questions about that future,

and tomorrow I'm allowed in to see it all close up for myself.

Bright and early, I meet one of Ineos' directors, Tom Crotty...

Good morning to you. Hugh, welcome to Grangemouth.

Thank you very much.

..and I can't help but notice an impressive model ship.

These Ineos boats...

This is a scale model of one of our 12 dragon ships, made in China,

all designed to bring gas from the United States

into Europe. Right to the site here?

Yes, absolutely to the site.

They come all the way up the Firth of Forth.

There isn't one in today but this is a video

of when we actually had the first one coming in.

There's the tug in front of it.

Here it comes under the iconic Forth Bridge.

These are coming in all the time.

It's a virtual pipeline, constantly flowing gas from America.

Extraordinary.

So, cheap American shale gas

is already flowing directly to our shores.

Ineos have spent 1 billion on these ships

to bring in the very resource

that's super charging plastics production in the States.

As Tom takes me into the facility...

..he explains that Ineos have spent another half a billion dollars

on upgrading it to receive the imported gas.

This includes building Europe's largest ethane tank,

where the gas is stored

before being fed to the heart of the process.

This is the cracker.

We take the ethane gas, heat it up to about a thousand degrees

and that cracks it into smaller molecules -

and those molecules can then be compressed and cooled down

into primarily ethylene.

And this block beyond, is that another cracker?

When we didn't have enough gas,

when we were just relying on the North Sea,

Train 2 was closed down, mothballed,

and we just ran this one.

Since we've had the ethane coming in from America,

we can now run both.

You've doubled your production

by being able to switch on the second train.

We are actually in the process of adding more furnace capacity.

So there is room for some more growth? There is still room.

What are your power requirements to keep this plant running?

To keep the whole site running,

we'd be using the same sort of power as, say, three major Scottish cities -

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Combined? Combined, yeah.

That's the amount of electricity being used here? Yes.

And that's before you even get to the gas that's... Correct.

..creating the thousand degrees to do the cracking?

That's absolutely right.

99% of all plastic is made from oil and gas,

but making it also burns vast amounts of fossil fuels.

If plastics production continues to grow as predicted, by 2050

it'll be responsible for 15% of global carbon emissions.

So, this is the end of the process effectively, Hugh.

The ethylene has now been formed into long chains of molecules,

becoming the solid polymer we call plastic.

This is still quite warm.

So this is polyethylene? That is polyethylene,

the most commonly used plastic in the world.

It's quite mesmerising,

just watching these bags fill up so quickly.

I think you're filling one every three seconds.

That sounds about right.

That's phenomenal.

Every three seconds, you're bagging up 25 kilos of plastic?

On this bagging unit. And there's another one behind us.

In total, the plant produces a mind-boggling 60 to 70 billion

plastic pellets every day.

We're in a world where people everywhere are just becoming aware

of the problems being caused by plastic. Yes.

Do you ever wonder when you hear the latest story

of some obscure fish that's been pulled out of the deepest trench

in the ocean and has been found to have tiny micro plastics in its gut.

Do you ever think to yourself, I wonder if those plastics came

from Grangemouth, from Ineos?

We wonder about those issues all the time.

The fundamental for me is why do we end up with plastics

in the ocean, which is not where they should be?

I mean, plastics per se are not a problem.

Waste plastic and littering is the problem.

We have to address that.

You are... By proper recycling. You are the source.

Yeah. It's not enough,

when the bath is overflowing and the water is flooding

and damaging the buildings... Sure.

..it's not enough just to be mopping up.

We have to turn off the tap.

You are the tap, Ineos is one of the big plastic taps

on the planet.

Shouldn't we be reducing production, looking at other innovations

that don't involve the spread of plastics across the planet?

We're looking at all of those things.

There's no point in turning the tap off because you stop

the good with the bad.

I'll give you a very good example.

Polyethylene going into water pipes.

Water pipes have transformed water management around the world.

Aeroplanes are becoming increasingly plastic.

That's helping the fuel economy.

So those are the sorts of applications that we're developing

new polymers for, not plastic bags and plastic straws.

That's no interest to us at all.

But you do do plastic packaging. It's 20% of your business.

20% of our business overall is plastic packaging.

You've got a company called Styrolution, who make some

of the products that are known to cause real problems in the waste

chain, like these shrink wrap plastics that go round

water bottles, cosmetics bottles,

this kind of flexible film packaging.

These are the known miscreants of the plastic world and you're not

only supplying plastics for these products,

you're manufacturing the products.

Shouldn't you be backing off that kind of product

and using your extraordinary resources and wealth to create

solutions to these problems?

100% of every piece of polymer we produce is recyclable

when it leaves us.

What we're trying to do is work with packaging designers, work

with consumer products companies, to improve the recyclability.

The other area we're doing a huge amount to work on is to say

can we take back all of that plastic or most of that plastic and put

it back through our chemical systems,

break it right back down constituent parts

and make plastic again?

We don't care whether we make plastic from gas or we make plastic

from old plastic.

If we can solve chemical recycling, we can close that loop completely.

How close are you to solving it?

I'd say we're two or three years away from that.

The mantra about closing the loop with chemical recycling of our used

plastics is well rehearsed

but everything I've seen here,

especially the virtual pipeline of US shale gas

that they're so proud of, suggests they're not planning to stop making

virgin plastic any time soon.

One thing that's definitely going to stay with me today - what I saw.

Billions and billions and billions of tiny pellets

of plastic leaving this factory today, tomorrow, every single day.

Where are they going to end up? Seriously.

What is certain is that the more plastic this industry produces,

the more plastic will end up in our lives,

whether we want it or not.

ANITA: Campaigning sisters Ella and Caitlin

have been busy spreading the word about that petition

against plastic fast food toys.

If anyone has any unwanted McDonald's and Burger King toys,

if they could give them to us

because we're going to try and collect them to give back

to McDonald's and Burger King.

If it's plastic, we really don't want them.

The girls' letters to Burger King and McDonald's didn't get

any response, but after sending follow-up e-mails,

they tell me they've got some news.

Hello! Hello. Hello, girls. What's been happening?

First of all we've got an e-mail from Burger King and McDonald's.

OK, so what did Burger King say?

"Dear Ella and Caitlin,

"plastic pollution is a big issue.

"And there's something we as a brand need to review.

"Whilst we can't advise of any changes at the moment,

"we have forwarded your comments to our management team

"so we can review the matter."

Well, at least they've engaged with you.

They've obviously read your letter.

What about the e-mail from McDonald's?

So McDonald's said "Reference number is blah blah blah.

"Just want to let you know our team are currently reviewing

"your feedback and we will be back in touch as soon as possible.

"Kind regards, McDonald's customer service team."

I think they've just sent you an automated response.

That's not good enough.

It's not just something like "Oh, I got too many tomatoes

"in my burger." It's something about the lives of sea animals.

The girls' friends at Brownies have responded to their call-out.

What?!

Hopefully we'll go to McDonald's and we'll just give them all back.

Give us burgers, not plastic.

I like that. That's a good... That's a good slogan.

Give us burgers, not plastic.

Girls, I'm so pleased.

I feel like there's an army now.

Yeah. Yes.

Good work.

Bye. Bye-bye.

I'm totally inspired.

I don't think McDonald's know what they're taking on with these two.

They've underestimated the power of young girls.

Plastic toys given away as a marketing tool by companies

might not feel right, but all of us want to give presents

to our family and friends.

How are you? Lovely to see you.

How are you doing?

On the street in Bristol,

Kay is well into her preparations for Christmas.

Who do you buy presents for?

I got four stepchildren, 16 step grandchildren,

seven great grandchildren, but then I also buy

for the children in the street anyway.

With so many gifts to wrap,

Kay often uses a convenient short cut.

What is that made of? Is this what you use?

It's paper. It's for birthday presents and Christmas gits.

Is it foil or is it...?

I have no idea.

What, do you wanna take one with you?

Shall we take that and figure out what it is?

All right, cool.

I like that you're setting me challenges as well.

Kay's right to be concerned about how we wrap our gifts.

At Christmas alone, we use enough wrapping paper to wrap

around the world nine times, held together with 40 million rolls

of polypropylene sticky tape.

Some on the street are trying out different takes on gift wrap.

I knew that I had a paper bag I'd bought from shops and I thought

it would be a good idea to recycle them.

Jess's mum Wendy has got even more creative.

I'm making some little bags to put my Christmas gifts in,

instead of trying to find plastic-free wrapping paper.

Lots of wrapping paper includes plastic and can't be recycled.

And when I do my research for Kay...

Good to see you again!

..I discover there's a handy plastic check

and it'll work for Kay's gift bags, too.

It's called the crinkle test.

Apparently if you just crinkle something, and if it pings back

into shape, then it's got plastic in it.

If it pings... Squeeze it...

Yeah, yeah. And then...

Are you surprised that that's got plastic in it?

No. No, I'm not.

Actually, I'd be more surprised if you said it hadn't got

any plastic in it.

This is properly single use, because no-one's going to use...

They do, actually. If somebody gets that in a present, undoes the bow...

But, Kay, not everyone is as organised as you.

I just think people... You'd have to be very organised...

We've got to differ on that one, I'm afraid.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you.

The end of the street experiment is in just a few weeks' time,

so I'll be sure to check in with Kay again.

HUGH: Producers of plastic like Ineos are backing

recycling as the solution to the plastic pollution crisis.

But I've seen how our current recycling system is creating

problems as well as solving them.

A key way to reform it is to make the producers of plastic packaging

pay for its collection, sorting and disposal.

Currently, they only contribute 10% to those costs.

The Minister for the Environment, Michael Gove, IS developing

a new Government strategy to deal with our waste better,

and last time we met, I put to him this principle

that the polluter should pay.

That responsibility belongs entirely to producers

and retailers, and they should pay 100%.

I absolutely accept the case, and I think they should...

You accept the case for 100%?

I accept the case that they should pay more.

Three weeks later, I'm invited to the press launch

for his waste and resources strategy

at a London recycling facility.

So, has he taken all this on board?

Is he ready to make plastic polluters pay 100%?

Hello. Hi. Nice to see you. How are you? Not too bad.

You have news for all of us who are interested in waste policy

and the future of plastics.

What are the headlines? Tomorrow, we'll be publishing a document

which outlines how we can change the way in which we deal with waste.

One of the first things, which I know is something

that you've been calling for, Hugh, is that we're going to say

to all producers that they must pay the full cost of dealing

with material that they generate.

Producers will be responsible for 100%?

100% of the cost... 100% of the cost of recovery and recycling? Yes.

Obviously you're going to get pushed back on that.

You're going to stand firm and stick to 100%?

Oh, yes, absolutely, yes.

I think it's critical that we do so.

So the Minister seems to be on track with the idea that the polluters

should pay in full, although the strategy still has a way to go

to become policy.

And even if we do get a properly funded overhaul of our recycling,

I'm starting to wonder - will this be enough?

I've been haunted by this sense of a plastics industry

that's hell-bent on growth.

You know, that's all about more, not less.

I'm meeting the lead plastics campaigner for Friends of the Earth,

Julian Kirby...

Hi, Julian.

..who's been modelling possible futures for global plastic.

I've got to a certain point in my plastics journey

where, I have to say, things are feeling pretty intense,

especially since I went to Grangemouth and visited

the Ineos plant.

What I'm hearing is, sure, they're going to open new plants

and build more ethylene crackers, but that's fine,

because they're going to use more recycled plastic

and we're going to be better at recycling, and the Government's

going to make sure that councils are better at recycling,

and we're going to recycle our way out of this problem

and it's all going to be fine. Is it going to be fine?

No, it's not. Not if we take that approach,

which is just carry on making more and more and more and hope

that recycling will get us out of the fix, because recycling

can't do that. Take this plate.

Imagine this is the circular economy.

So we talk about the circular economy is a good thing

and we need to recycle things as much as possible.

Once we've made a plastic bottle, we'll recycle it

round and round as a plastic bottle.

But what people never talk about in the debate is the size

of the circle.

So it's all very well putting in plastic and then making it

spin around.

But if you're putting in more and more plastic,

then your circle is getting bigger and bigger,

and more plastic means more climate-changing pollution

from the fossil fuels that are needed to make that plastic.

So if you're getting 20% better at recycling,

but the circle is getting 50% bigger every few years...

Yeah. ..your problems of plastic pollution are going up, not down.

Yeah, absolutely.

Mass expansion of plastic production and use

is driving the plastic pollution crisis,

but it's also a major contributor to the climate crisis.

The focus has to be on reducing how much plastic we're making

and using in the first place.

That is really missing from the conversation,

and yet it's an essential part of dealing with the plastic crisis.

I can see why getting behind recycling serves the makers

of plastic so well - it's completely compatible with giving us

more and more plastic.

And I wonder whether the businesses that are using so much of it

might be playing the same game.

Giveaway toy campaigners Caitlin and Ella are clear about the plastic

they don't need.

Hello, action team!

How are you?

Burger King have sent us an update on their plans, writing,

"We are trialling the removal of toys, and working

"on the development of alternatives,

"our goal being to have a more sustainable toy solution

"in place by 2020.

"In the meantime, we'd like to applaud Ella and Caitlin

"for their initiative."

They're all McDonald's ones...

But the girls haven't received anything from McDonald's

beyond their automated response, and have come to London to deliver

their petition to the head office around the corner.

Look at all those! 166,101.

I've brought along a little addition...

Choo-choo! Off we go.

..to make sure they get noticed.

We've gathered a small army of McDonald's toys...

..to help show the scale of the problem

the girls are highlighting.

Come and check it out.

That is a lot! Unbelievable.

"This many plastic Happy Meal toys

"are given away in the UK every five minutes."

Five minutes!

That's just ridiculous. When you go in to give your petition,

I thought maybe we could drop this off as well. Yes.

But before marching on McDonald's, we attract a bit of a crowd.

So these two, Ella and Caitlin,

have got a petition here that they've done

so they're going to take this to McDonald's.

What do you think? Is that a good thing? Yeah.

So you've got all the support. Let's do it. Good.

Let's do it. Lead the way, girls.

MUSIC: Alright by Supergrass

# We are young, we run green... #

Giant plastic worm coming through.

# ..See our friends, see the sights

# Feel alright. #

At least McDonald's can't deal with this approach by using

an automated response.

We've done a petition against McDonald's plastic toys.

We want to speak to the sustainability department

because we've got quite a few signatures.

Yes, can you come downstairs, please?

Can we ask who's coming downstairs?

Someone that can help you.

OK, thank you very much.

But the person who comes is not who we were hoping for.

We're just here to see if we can speak to somebody.

No, you can't, I'm afraid. We can't speak to anybody?

I'll talk to you outside.

But what about the girls who want to speak to somebody?

And the girls as well. So we're not allowed to stay in reception? No.

That's fine. Can I ask who you are? Yeah, I'm the security.

OK. Security is escorting us off the property.

Can we ask you to go down to the bottom?

Can we just tell you what the girls are...

I can tell you down the bottom. OK.

You've not even asked us what we're here to do.

I'll ask you down the bottom. OK.

Do you want to take this with you? You don't want this on the property?

No. No.

I think the girls might want... They've brought a petition.

We retreat back to the public pavement.

Are you all right? It's fine, OK?

Yeah?

He said he was going to talk to us about what we wanted,

and now he's just disappeared.

He basically wanted to get us off his property. It's not OK.

I feel like companies should be ready to hear people's complaints.

Like, they don't really care.

They're really hurting the environment. All they care about

is that people are still buying their things

and they still get money.

They didn't come out of their office to talk to you,

but I'm pretty sure McDonald's will be watching.

So how about you tell them what you want to say?

I want to say that this is just ridiculous.

These toys are not needed.

No-one needs these toys.

We don't want them, and you can't say that no-one else agrees

with us, because there's... BOTH: ..166,101 signatures.

I don't doubt there are more people than that who agree with us.

You should be changing this and you shouldn't be doing this,

McDonald's, it's crazy.

The girls are eventually

allowed back in to drop off their petition

with the receptionist.

McDonald's may not have come to talk to us today,

but until they stop giving out plastic toys,

I think they may be hearing a lot more from the likes

of Ella and Caitlin.

The experiment to see how much the streets in Bristol

can reduce its single-use plastic is at its end.

Our team of counters are revisiting the 22 houses taking part...

We've got one, two, three, four...

..adding up every piece so we can compare the total

with the original counts four months ago.

How are you? Come on in.

If this normal street has been able to make a significant reduction,

there IS hope we can find a way out of the plastics crisis.

Hey! Welcome back!

What a massive day.

Before everyone gets together for the collective result...

Let's do it. I'll go this way, you go that way... Brilliant.

..and we'll meet up at the end and see what we find. Can't wait.

..Hugh and I are keen to hear how people on the street

are feeling about the challenge.

Good morning. Hi, Wendy. Hello.

I hesitate to say

you were one of the worst on the street for plastic,

but you were one of the worst on the street for plastic!

Mad! All that stuff.

Is that about it now, for sort of cleaning products?

That looks refillable too.

That's what Anna made me, across the road.

It's not necessarily that you've got rid of a load,

it's that what you've got left is refillable. Yeah.

The wet wipes are gone. Have they? Yeah.

What have you done? It's quite easy - we just don't buy any more.

Just use a cloth. Massive change is the water bottles. They are gone.

And what have you replaced that with? The water filter.

There's been some drastic changes.

What was the big thing for you?

Wipes.

Do you miss them? Not at all.

Once I realised how much of a problem they were causing,

it was a no-brainer.

One resident's agoraphobia means she can't turn out

for the result of the count.

Throughout the experiment, the wonderful Kay

has been my reality check.

Now, what I've done is, that's the wrapping bag -

all wrapping what come off of presents.

This is the bag that you said people will re-use.

Yeah, but they didn't, did they?

So what do you think? Are you going to use those next year?

I probably won't, actually.

That could be one of the ones I'm not going to do next year.

You're not going to use these next year! No.

The bottom line is, I'm thinking that I can make a bit

of a difference and,

if I could do it, so can a lot of other people, really.

I love Kay's growing positivity AND the other successes I've seen

on the street, but I'm aware they're not the full picture.

Not everybody's been able to do that much.

Some people not engaged with this at all, and it's not

actually that easy for people to be as plastic free

as they want to be because of the way things are sold.

So, all of that taken into account,

what do I think about what's going to happen?

No idea.

I just hope the plastic is less than it was when we first started.

As the residents gather,

our team calculates the grand total, ready for the big reveal.

Hello, everyone! Hey! Hi!

OK, so today is the big day where we're going to find out

what we've all been up to.

Right. A lot of us are gathered here who've been involved in the project

but there is a really special, important person that

I've spent a lot of time with. Kay, are you with us?

I'm here! Hi!

Hello, Kay! CHEERING

It's great to see you all there.

So shall we do the results?

ALL: Yes!

Four months ago, the total plastic that came from this street

was 15,774 single-use bits of plastic.

So...

I just want to be clear that the same houses

that were measured on day one have been measured now.

It's a proper comparison of like figures.

Here it comes.

The figure today...

..is...

Yes!

8,610 bits of plastic! That is amazing.

CHEERING

So that is a reduction of...

..45%! Wow!

Yeah, come on! This is you!

You have come very, very close to halving the amount of plastic

you're using in the street. Phenomenal.

If every street in the country followed your example, by how many

pieces of plastic would we reduce the plastic mountain that's now

sitting on top of us all?

What would it be?

8.8 billion pieces of plastic less in our lives.

That's 8.8 billion pieces of plastic that won't end up in the sea.

That won't get burned somewhere in Asia

because we don't know how to deal with it.

It would be a phenomenal achievement for the nation

to do what you have done.

We've learned so much. Yeah, it's been amazing.

One of the really great things

has been our community coming together.

There is a small revolution going on, and, yes...

Now let's make it a big one.

We need to make it a big one, yeah. Amazing. Thank you.

WHOOPING

This ordinary British street has proved that making

a significant reduction to the plastic in our lives IS possible,

but it hasn't all been easy.

What are the hardest things to buy without plastic?

Food.

Food that you're going to keep

for a while like the bars, the pasta.

It's very frustrating to go to Sainsbury's thinking, right,

I'm going to avoid plastic

and then... You can't. ..I need X, Y and Z,

and it's all encased in plastic.

Of course, the supermarkets aren't silent on the subject of plastics.

They've all got a plan, and I'm absolutely convinced

that this is where we need to see change - from our supermarkets.

This is where we have to pile on the pressure.

One of the baselines for the supermarkets' plans

is a pledge that they've all signed called the Plastics Pact.

And here's the number one commitment - that by 2025,

100% of our plastic packaging to be reusable,

recyclable or compostable.

They've got three choices.

So, which of these are they actually going to choose?

The different supermarkets' plastics plans have been analysed

by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Greenpeace.

I've come to discuss their findings

with Greenpeace's ocean plastics campaigner Elena Polisano.

Hi, Elena. Hi. How are you?

The survey found that UK supermarkets produce

over 800,000 tonnes of single-use plastic a year -

a third of all our plastic packaging -

so their future plans really matter.

This is a familiar sight to us all, isn't it?

So this is the sort of plastic we would call a problem plastic.

It can't be recycled.

Supermarkets need to make sure they're getting rid of this stuff.

The three peppers...

This crinkly stuff can't be recycled. Can't be recycled.

But they are planning to phase this stuff out - in favour of what?

Recyclable plastic, mainly.

So we're still talking single-use plastic packaging.

So the fact that it's single use but recyclable, that's still a problem.

Absolutely!

No waste system in the world

could cope with the amount of plastic that we're producing.

The evidence I think is there for us all to see,

whether it's a walk along the beach

or whether it's images of the plastic

that we've exported around the world.

Another solution open to the supermarkets

under their pledge is to use compostable plastics.

The worry with this stuff is that it needs very specific conditions

in order to be compostable,

and if it gets into the recycling stream it contaminates it.

We need to move away from a throwaway culture where we imagine

that our packaging just magically disappears.

We need to move away from single use, full stop.

Why do you think supermarkets are going down this route

of sticking with plastics rather than properly addressing reduction?

Because it's as close as you can get to business as usual.

It's very profitable. It means that, you know, supermarkets

don't need to make these big, radical changes.

So this Plastics Pact actually makes it entirely possible

that there'll be far more plastic in our supermarkets, not less.

You could very well say, yup, I've met my target,

2025, done and dusted,

when, actually, the absolute amount of plastic could double.

One way for supermarkets to break away from single-use plastic

is to simply sell us goods without packaging.

Two months ago, Tesco told me about their planned trial

to encourage their customers to buy loose fruit and veg

rather than packaged.

So now I've come along to one of the two stores running the trial.

I'm wondering whether I'll step in there

and see a completely new type of Tesco.

That's what I'm hoping to see. Less plastic. A lot less plastic.

I'm meeting up with group quality director Sarah Bradbury.

Hello, Sarah. Hello, how are you?

I'm great. Lovely to see you again!

The attractive displays of loose fruit and veg

certainly look promising.

At my last meeting with Sarah, I pointed out that buying produce

loose often costs more than buying it packaged,

and she promised me that this trial would be different.

The peppers here are 25p here

and we've got 30p for the red and for the orange ones as well.

We've made sure they're absolutely price competitive.

Sarah's kept her word on price,

but the trial hasn't increased the choice if you want to buy loose.

It's simply lowered the price of 45 lines of fruit and veg

that were already being sold loose, and removed the packaged option.

Hundreds of other lines are STILL in their packaging.

You've got one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven,

eight, nine, ten,

11, 12. 12 different ranges of tomatoes all in plastic

and only two that are available without. There's not a choice.

There is a choice here - there's absolutely a choice.

I've got two loose tomatoes, and 12 in plastic.

That's not a choice.

If a company like Tesco makes a commitment to just get rid of

as much plastic packaging as possible,

you will have made a huge impact to the country as a whole.

We would reduce our single plastic use overnight if you could do that.

So it is important that we do that.

We've created a culture around convenience

and everybody is used to buying in a certain way.

You're right. We buy our tomatoes like this

because Tesco's is selling them to me like this. Yep.

You're telling me that this is convenient.

You're telling me that this is going to be better

for my tomatoes at home.

You're dictating to us how we should be buying.

How hard is it to just remove the packaging from the chain?

Practically, we could do it tomorrow if it was the right thing to do.

But we need to make sure that we've

brought the supply chain along with us. I'm not going to forget that.

Practically, you could do it tomorrow

if you thought it was the right thing to do?

I had such high hopes for this trial, but it just doesn't feel

like the dramatic change in thinking that we need.

For a massive, powerful supermarket,

you created a culture of shopping, you dictated to us how we shop.

Now I say to you - create another culture. Change the landscape.

Be radical. Set the standards for other supermarkets.

How about that?

A growing number of refill shops around the country have introduced

a genuine alternative to plastic-heavy shopping,

allowing us to fill our own bags and containers

with un-packaged produce.

I think they're great,

but, to date, they've struggled to match the supermarkets

for choice and affordability.

Catherine Conway is a consultant on reducing packaging

and is designing ways to scale up the refill approach

for our supermarket aisles.

Hi, Cath. Lovely to meet you. How are you doing? Very well.

So if you're looking at your future shopping crystal ball,

definitely not a plastic ball,

what does it look like, five years, ten years from now?

How could and should we be shopping?

So I guess packaging is something that enables the food to get

to your house, enables you to use it,

and then it goes back into the system to be reused

so it's just in a continual cycle of being cleaned, reused, cleaned,

reused, round and round.

Which actually plays to plastic's strength,

because it is really a durable substance.

It's about the system, not the material.

Imagine that you've got this kind of Tupperware at home.

One option is, you go into your store

and somebody refills that for you.

The other one is, you walk in and pick up a pre-filled piece

of reusable packaging from the supermarket,

take it home, use the goods and then you put it back into the system.

That's a big change we're asking for.

But if you think, traditionally, it's not that much of a change.

In some way, it's going back to systems that we used to have,

where it was refillable glass milk bottles - you know,

the way our parents used to shop,

and it's actually updating those systems

in a more tech-savvy, a more modern world.

It does sound like a brave new world

but not one in which there's zero cost to the environment.

You need heat and cleaning products. You're totally right.

But I firmly believe that if it's done to the right scale

at the right efficiencies, then the system has to be better

for the environment than the single-use alternative.

After several years of trying to engage supermarkets

Catherine is now advising one of them

as it dips its toes into the world of reusable packaging.

Waitrose are running a trial at just one branch for 11 weeks.

They've intercepted parts of their supply chain

before the plastic packaging goes on,

to offer 160 lines of loose fruit and veg

as well as refill stations for dry-store goods,

frozen fruit, coffee and even wine and beer.

You can bring your own containers and bags

or put down a deposit to borrow theirs.

I love not feeling guilty every time I buy fruit and veg any more.

Be even better if you could manage to provide milk

in returnable glass bottles or a milk refill station.

This is great. Hopefully more stores will do the same.

Well, that's the crunch, isn't it?

More stores will follow.

I mean, there's only one Waitrose doing this out of 360,

and thousands of other supermarkets

not really embracing this approach at all yet.

We're at the very, very beginning of something.

Or are we? Maybe it'll just peter out and die.

What I think is important about what's happening here

is that they're showing it is possible -

we can do our shopping without all this plastic.

And if that's going to scale up,

if that's going to become the new normal,

well, ultimately, it's going to be down to us.

We know the scale of the plastic problem we're facing.

Every single minute of every single day

a truckload of plastics is finding its way into the world's oceans.

And one street has shown us that we CAN do things differently.

So that is a reduction of... 45%.

Wow!

But if we are going to bring about the change our planet needs,

then we need to make ourselves heard.

Our supermarkets are always telling us that our opinions matter,

that they value our feedback.

So let's take them up on that.

Let's start feeding our plastic back.

I'm going to write "enough is enough".

These bananas are already packaged by nature.

Every year we spend BILLIONS in the big supermarkets.

So surely they'll listen!

I'll keep on buying but only if you keep on trying

to reduce my plastic packaging to zero.

Cauliflower does not need a plastic bag.

If you're shopping in the next seven days, take those bits of plastic

that are really irritating you and take them back

to the supermarket.

Write your message on the plastic and hand it over.

My little note is, "Plastic isn't fantastic."

Please stop wrapping my fruit and vegetable in plastic.

Hashtag - #OurPlasticFeedback.

Why don't you get involved too?

Time to reduce.

And don't forget to add the hashtag...

Share it on social media.

And then feed it back.

We're giving our plastic feedback!

Just here to give our plastic feedback.

People across the country are starting to tell their supermarkets

they no longer want their single-use plastic.

They won't be very pleased, but I think they'll understand.

Do it for us, do it for our children,

do it for our grandchildren.

Let's make the change we need happen.

It looks like some people have had enough.

It's time for a plastics revolution.

There's too much plastic on our planet.

Hashtag...

Let's tell the supermarkets how we feel.

For the next seven days, let's give them...

ALL: ..our plastic feedback!

For the sake of the planet,

LESS plastic, please.