Football leagues must tackle single-use plastic say MPs
The chairmen of the football leagues in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been asked by MPs to show single-use plastic the red card and “mobilise the power of sport” to end their environmentally detrimental use of the product.
There is a huge opportunity for sports organisations to reduce the use of throwaway plastic at matches
Mary Creagh MP,Chair, Commons Environmental Audit Committee,
Labour MP, Mary Creagh, who chairs the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, has also asked the league bosses to consider introducing a bottle return scheme.
The Committee has written to all of the four league leaders to ask them to follow the example of England’s Premier League. The top tier of English football announced in April that it would be introducing measures to phase out single-use plastic in its operations and supply chains by 2020.
“There is a huge opportunity for sports organisations to reduce the use of throwaway plastic at matches and encourage fans to reduce, reuse and recycle. I want the UK’s football leagues to show leadership on this issue,” said Mary Creagh.
Plastic cups, bottles, stirrers, trays, cutlery and bags are all on offer to supporters at pretty much every ground in the UK’s football leagues.
Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspur, announced earlier this year that they intend to phase out single-use plastic when they move to their new 62,000-capacity ground next season. The club’s website says that from opening day, the new stadium will eliminate use of plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and all plastic disposable packaging that accompanies these items.
Actions you can take
Did you know?…
Over time, one plastic bottle bobbing along in the ocean can break down in to hundreds of tiny plastic pieces
Globally, plastic litter has reached every part of the world’s oceans
Every day millions of microplastics enter the sea from personal care products such as scrubs and toothpastes