Environmental group calls for ban on single-use sample sachets in the beauty industry
Environmental group A Plastic Planet is calling for a ban on single-use sample sachets in the beauty industry to help reduce the amount of waste the sector creates every year.
The group has written an open letter to UK and EU officials asking lawmakers to add single-serve sachets to the single-use plastics ban, which currently includes stirrers, plastic straws and cotton buds.
The “Sack the Sample Sachet” letter states that sachets used by the personal care sector to package moisturiser, shower gel, face wipes, shampoo and more creates 122 billion items of waste ever year.
The letter has received support from many members of European Parliament and UK politicians, including Lord Randall of Uxbridge, who was formerly environmental advisor to Theresa May.
Find out more about A Plastic Planet’s Sack the Sample Sachet campaign.
“We’ve seen governments across the world crow about bans on single-use plastics, but the sample sachet is a huge piece of the pollution puzzle which every one of them is missing,” said Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet.
“The hundreds of billions of sample sachets pumped out by the personal and home care industries each year are used to drive instant sales will pollute the planet for centuries.
“With solutions readily available, there is no excuse for inaction. Any ban on single-use plastics must cover sample sachets to stamp them out once and for all.”
The use of plastic sachets across all industries is expected to reach one trillion by 2030, says A Plastic Planet, but most can’t be recycled, meaning they end up in landfill where it can take up to 1,000 years for the plastic to decompose.