UK Public vs. Politicians: Key Takeaways from "A Future for Sustainable Plastics"

The public and political parties aren't seeing eye to eye when it comes to the top concerns of the UK's society. 

Editor Rebekah Jordan sifts through the key insights from the report and sheds light on the divided opinions of the general UK public and political representatives.

The Birmingham Plastics Network worked with YouGov Plc to survey a total of 2942 individuals in the UK.

#1 Plastic pollution is a top concern for the UK public.

The UK public ranked the threat of plastic pollution as a top-three concern alongside war and climate change. 

The issue topped other major societal threats like the coronavirus pandemic (or future pandemics), terrorism, economic collapse, natural disasters, and artificial intelligence. 

#2 Plastics in the ocean and the amount of plastic waste were the top issues raised out of all environmental issues.

Out of 13 environmental concerns, 'plastics in the ocean' and 'plastic waste production' claimed the first top spots, followed by issues around landfill and microplastics. 

#3 MPs prioritised water pollution and climate change over plastic-related issues. 

Political objectives weren't aligned with those of the public as Members of Parliament ranked plastic pollution lower on their agendas.

'Plastic waste produce', 'plastics in the ocean', 'microplastics', and landfill  all occupied lower positions in their list of environmental concerns.

#4 Conservative MPs prioritised protecting the countryside, while Labour MPs prioritise climate change for UK government goals.

59% of Conservative MPs vouched for protecting the countryside and green spaces as the highest priority of governmental focus for the next five years, while only 13% of Labour MPs selected this.

Whereas, for 58% of Labour MPs, the highest-ranked option was climate change in contrast to only 30% of Conservative MPs. believed climate change was an important issue to address within the next five years.

Neither party's MPs prioritised plastic-specific issues among their top five environmental concerns.

#5 Only 50% of Britons understood that bioplastics can still contribute to plastic pollution.

There is a lack of understanding among the UK public around the meaning of the terms "bioplastic" and "biodegradable plastic". ​

Many people are unaware that bioplastics can still contribute to plastic pollution.

Terms such as ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’ were viewed as confusing and less understood than more commonly used terms like ‘recycling’ or ‘recycled’.

#6 1 in 5 people think biodegradable plastic can break down doing no environmental harm.

1 in 5 people (20%) thought that biodegradable plastics can be thrown into landfill and will break down doing no environmental harm.

Almost 1 in 4 people (24%) thought biodegradable plastics always break down within at least a few years in the environment, while around 1 in 12 (8%) thought they always break down in a matter of months.

#7 Both the UK public and MPs believe that plastics labelled as "biodegradable" should break down within one year.

Just over half of Britons (52%) and a higher proportion of Members of Parliament (55%) believe plastic labelled ‘biodegradable’ should take less than a year to break down.

Only 5% of MPs felt no limit should be set. 

#8 ‘Waste’ and ‘pollution’ were the two most common answers when the public heard the word ‘plastic’.

There were also positive words and attributes, such as ‘cheap’ and ‘useful’, but these were less common than more negative words and attributes.

Other negative words included 'toxic', 'damage', 'rubbish, 'dangerous', 'bad' and 'unnecessary'. This indicates that in the mind of the UK public, plastics tend to be viewed negatively.

#9 Almost 7 in 10 of the UK public say that ‘sustainability’ is important to them. 

However, 3 in 4 concur that it's hard to understand what plastics to put in recycling bins.

The majority of individuals see it as a national responsibility to handle recycling, with just over 8 in 10 agreeing recycling should be completed within the UK rather than sending waste abroad.

#10 Left-wingers reported concerns regarding climate change (80%) than reported concerns regarding plastic pollution.

Political stances also affects the prioritisation of environmental issues.

Those who described themselves as ‘left-wing’ expressed more concern for both climate change and plastic pollution than those who found themselves more politically ‘centre’ or ‘right-wing’. However, left-wingers reported more concern for climate change (80%) than plastic pollution (71%).

Those who were central on the political spectrum shared similar levels of concern about both climate change (58%) and plastic pollution (56%).

Contrastingly, those considered right-wing were more concerned about plastic pollution (45%) than they are about climate change (36%).