If we don't act soon with the plastic problem then its only going to get harder. we need to sort this out now and fast.

The rubbish and litter situation along the A2 between Canterbury and Dover is now out of control and a national and local disgrace. The problem has been escalating year on year and is now totally unacceptable potentially endangering the health of the public with bottles of urine being thrown from vehicles on to the roadside. The valiant efforts of volunteers are now at its limit and the situation overwhelming and fraught with danger trying to stem the tide of defecation being heaped on to this our beautiful countryside. Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council, Highways England and various other authorities have all been made aware of this appalling situation by outraged residents and despite the constant stream of concern and level of complaint raised, there appears nothing is being done to properly address the situation and find a solution and deterrent to it. This has got to stop and this petition calls upon all those in authority to act accordingly and bring an end to this intolerable blight on our lives.

Historically the UK has produced 10% of the world's man made CO2 emissions and we can, and should, take the lead in eliminating these emissions. We allow "venting" (the cleaning process) of conventional power stations even though we know it will kill the old, young and infirm. Other methods of pollution are also unhealthy. If our generation do not clear up the mess, then it could be too late for the next generation to do so. Paying for all of this by eliminating the scourge of mental illness is a great way of funding for such a big plan. A near-zero CO2 economy would also be self-sufficient, which would be a strategic asset, and a soil improver.

If you feed your pet food from pouches, you'll know how many they can get through. As my kitten grew bigger and hungrier, I was shocked to find that these pouches were not recycled. But the technology exists to recycle them. This plastic aluminium laminate packaging is increasingly used by manufacturers because it is cheap and uses much less energy to produce and transport than other packaging, but it is going into landfill at the rate of thousands of tonnes annually, because very few councils recycle it. The recycling process produces high grade aluminium as well as oil from the plastic. In Hackney, more than £33,000 worth of aluminium a year is ending up in landfill unnecessarily, from these pet food pouches alone. If Hackney is really serious about being a green borough, let's lead the way in getting this packaging recycled. It is possible!

No animal deserves to die a slow and agonising death with very unnecessary suffering. Glue traps are also indescriminate - they can trap loved pets and wildlife that was not under target.

I live in Leeds and only the plastics marked 1, 2 and 4 are recycled. I and many others want to recycle all plastics as around 50% of our grey bins are filled with plastics that the council will not accept. This is unsustainable and needs to be stopped.

Chewing gum is made from plastic. Think how much chewing gum you've put in your mouth believing it was a natural substance. Think of how much you've thrown away thinking it will compost naturally over time. Originally, chewing gum was made from natural "chicle" gum, which biodegrades in under a month. However, modern chewing gum uses a gum base made from polymers which are synthetic plastics. This is not organic waste that composts, it is a hidden plastic in our food, it will not break down naturally, and adds to all the other plastic humanity continues to produce, purchase and discarded. I am calling on the manufacturers of all chewing gum to revert back to a natural gum base and ensure the product is 100% free from plastic. Sign the petition if you want to reduce plastic usage and agree with this proposal.

For many years now local councils have actively promoted households to recycle as much packaging as possible but the amount of plastic packaging that is not currently recycled is unacceptable. How many times have you gone to recycle plastic packaging? only to find that it is not currently recycled. As consumers, we should be able to purchase goods knowing that the packaging they come supplied with can be recycled at a later date. For one week I collected all the plastic packaging that had 'currently not recycled' written on it and was shocked at how much plastic packaging this amounted to. The alternative would be to avoid purchasing the plastic packaging but realistically this is not always an option as the product may only be supplied in that packaging. In the Netherlands, Ekoplaza supermarkets have introduced Europe’s first plastic-free supermarket aisle. "For decades shoppers have been sold the lie that we can’t live without plastic in food and drink... Finally we can see a future where the public have a choice about whether to buy plastic or plastic-free. Right now we have no choice.” (The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/28/worlds-first-plastic-free-aisle-opens-in-netherlands-supermarket). The Guardian’s investigation into supermarkets’ plastic footprint found that leading UK stores create more than 800,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste every year. However Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Asda and Lidl all refused to divulge their plastic output, with most saying the information was “commercially sensitive”. (The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/28/worlds-first-plastic-free-aisle-opens-in-netherlands-supermarket). Call on supermarkets across the UK to follow Ekoplaza’s example without delay.

Currently there are no national or international standards to cover home composting. At present Packaging manufacturers can claim their products are "compostable" leading to consumer confusion and misinformation. Products that are listed as compostable are often only suitable for industrial composting or hot composting and will not biodegrade in your home composter or even in an anaerobic digester. {This has been the case with several so-called biodegradable plastics: they are proven to break down faster under specific environmental conditions (which may not actually reflect the normal environment), but may not be effectively degradable under natural conditions. The labels of 'biodegradable', 'bio-based', 'compostable', are therefore often claimed and used in marketing contexts, with little understanding for consumers on what these definitions mean in practice. A key current challenge of biodegradable plastics is that they tend to need particular waste management methods which are not always widely available. They usually need to be separated from the traditional recycling stream (which can be difficult and expensive), and have to go to specific compostable facilities. This doesn’t mean such methods are unfeasible, but could be additional economic cost especially if they're in the waste stream at low concentrations, and would take significant work in terms of infrastructure redesign} Quoted from Our World in Data Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-12-truth-bioplastics.html#jCp

Plastic bottles, free newspapers and packaged food on-the-go are everywhere on our public transport and on our streets. The government should ensure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to improving the UK's recycling rates but many of our public litter bins don't have a recycling option. It wouldn't be difficult to commit to ensuring local councils replaced these outdated bins with dual purpose options, as seen in some areas of London, within a reasonable time-frame.

So many cars, and while there are crossings, there are very far away and inconvenient to cross. This prioritising cars in the city and displacing the right of people. Critical to allow pedestrians to have right on the road and hopefully reduce car use.

Please consider any local café, restaurant, pub, clubs/sports associations and village hall a community asset, i.e. somewhere people can gather and socialise and ensure that these establishments are protected under Planning Law. Under current planning law a change of use is permitted through the planning application process, which in turn initiates a "consultation" process i.e. the community has the opportunity to object to an application. However Planning Officers have a tendency to ignore objections and rubber stamp development, a recent example local to me had 700 petitioned objections 13 written and the support of a Local Councillor, planning was still granted. The Government must support the community and prevent Council's and developers ignoring the wish of the local populous. Media reports that society is changing, and that the mental health of the nation is suffering, could this be because people have become insular by not going out. Pub’s, as an example, used to be a place where the local community met, socialised and resolved local issues between themselves, everybody knew their neighbour, their neighbour’s kids, etc. This sense of community is rapidly being lost. People are sitting at home becoming keyboard warriors and panicking over fake-news, they do not have an outlet to talk to others, attributing to the overall mental health of a Nation. Community assets should be protected by Law and encouraged with lesser rents, exemption from business rates, they after all are providing a service to the public, the local community and at times law enforcement. If a building cannot be maintained in it's current use, an alternative use that benefits the community would be preferable, i.e. conversion to a youth club rather that developed for profit.