Plastic Free July
This July we urge you to reduce, reuse and recycle your plastic as much as possible
Take this opportunity to challenge your habits - and please do share your pledge with us, as well as any tips on how to achieve it. We want to know what challenges you face through your journey to reduce your plastic consumption. Maybe you struggle with finding a zero-waste shop near you, or locating vegetables that aren’t wrapped in plastic? We will collect the information (anonymously) and share the challenges faced, as well as your suggestions on how to overcome them.
Last year, a few of our colleagues shared their plastic-free journey. You are welcome to revisit their journeys here:
“Juggling between my personal efforts to reduce waste and plastic use at home with the use of vast swathes of lab consumables in my everyday work has been difficult and frustrating at times.”
“As a student it can be easy to fall into a hyper-consumerist, ‘single-use’ lifestyle.”
“I have been environmentally conscious since becoming vegan for environmental and ethical reasons at sixteen, but for some reason was largely ignorant of the damaging environmental impact of my plastic use. This all changed in my first year at Oxford. Increasingly disconcerted by the immensity of plastic piling up in my shopping basket, I slowly started making changes.”
Global plastic consumption
How much plastic has the world produced in total? The chart below shows that by 2015, we have made 7.8 billion tonnes of plastic - more than a tonne for every person alive today. See Our World in Data for further information.
Future of Plastics
The Future of Plastics interdisciplinary team within the Oxford Martin School focuses on the technical, economic and legal issues around a future plastics economy that supports, rather than undermines, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The researchers are working to develop new materials to replace plastics that cannot currently be recycled. Part of this involves investigating the under-explored concept of chemical recycling, in which plastics are broken down to their base ingredients, which are then re-used.
Visit the Oxford Martin School website to learn more.
Helpful tips and information
Not all plastics are created equal
Plastics that can easily be recycled include:
- All bottles and tops – including drinks bottles, shampoo bottles and bleach bottles
- Food and toiletry pots – including yogurt pots, hummus pots and moisturiser pots
- Tubs and trays – including butter tubs, ready meal trays and medicine tubs
Plastics that can be recycled only at your local recycling centre:
- Large plastic garden toys (e.g. slides)
- Buckets, bowls and baskets
- Garden furniture
- Wheelie bins, recycling boxes, food caddies
- Storage boxes and crates
- Water butts
Waste Wizard
Not all plastics have a visible code and not all items made from each type of plastic can be sorted and recycled. Therefore, if you are unsure about whether you can place a certain item in your household recycling use Oxfordshire County Council’s Waste Wizard tool. For example: searching 'cereal bag' tells you that it can't be placed in household recycling, but could be recycled it at your local supermarket.
Easy wins to reduce my plastic consumption
- Wash food packaging before putting it in the recycling to avoid contamination - In 2018, UK councils sent 500,000 tonnes of recycling to landfill because of contamination, according to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
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Choose reusable face masks, straws, coffee cup, water bottle, bee wrap, shopping bags – the list is endless, with alternatives for almost everything!
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Avoid individually wrapped goods like sweets.
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Visit a zero waste shop like OxUnBoxed to reduce the need to buy plastics which cannot be recycled.
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Refuse receipts at the checkout - the same chemicals found in single-use plastics (like straws) are also used in receipts.
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Pick your own fruit and vegetables can be a great social activity.
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Switch to plastic-free shampoo bars – you can even buy them in supermarkets now!
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Choose plastic-free trainers next time you need a new pair – there are plenty of brands which offer us alternatives.
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Choose a plastic-free cycle helmet from brands that realise that standard foam helmets are not sustainable.
