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Lib Dems call for war on packaging

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Published Date: 27 February 2008
SCOTTISH Liberal Democrats are set to call for binding targets to cut excess packaging in place of the current voluntary commitments.
The party's conference in Aviemore this weekend will debate a motion which also proposes a requirement that supermarkets provide waste points in store, allowing customers to remove and deposit unwanted packaging before they leave.

Edinburgh South Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle, who campaigned for a 10p levy on plastic bags, said: "The average household in Scotland produces over 1.1 tonnes of waste per year resulting in roughly 500,000 tonnes of packaging being thrown away by Scottish homes each year.

"The UK Government's waste strategy fails to address the need for constructive changes to the currently ineffective regulations. They have also failed to meet the UK wide targets for packaging reduction set by the EU.

"It is concerning that despite the SNP's manifesto commitment to a 'Zero Waste Scotland', they have recently reduced the Strategic Waste Fund budget by £26 million.

"I strongly urge the SNP Government to introduce binding packaging reduction targets to be met by producers and retailers in order to curb this shocking amount of waste."





The full article contains 198 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 27 February 2008 10:41 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Mallory,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 12:27:59
Good for the LibDems - now we all have to remove excess packaging at the supermarket tills and leave it behind for Tesco/Sainsbury/Morrison/Asda to recycle. They'll soon get the message.
2

Freddy,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 14:09:33
No no no no no .... this is utterly useless. We should not be recycling more, what we should be doing is forcing the manufacturers to have less packaging for their products so we do not have to recycle anything in the first place! If they don't produce it in the first place, they have a lower CO2 footprint, AND we dont need to recycle it so again a lower CO2 footprint. Why can't these dimwit politicians see this simple fact!
3

Richard Lionheart,

27/02/2008 14:25:32
Let us have binding targets to cut the number of Lib Dem MSP’s at the next election!

That would certainly reduce green house gas emissions.
4

Richard Lionheart,

27/02/2008 14:27:58
PS Thought the Lib Dems were against war!
5

I Heart Edinburgh,

27/02/2008 15:39:12
#2 - Calm down dear! Have you read the article that you are commenting on? They are making the very point that you are arguing in favour of - less packaging!! The clue is in the line "I strongly urge the SNP Government to introduce binding PACKAGING REDUCTION TARGETS to be met by producers and retailers in order to curb this shocking amount of waste."


#3 & #5 - nice to see the party hacks are keeping busy. When you can't critise the policy you just resort to your usual partisan bickering. Grow up and get a real job!
6

Ghengis McCann,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 15:44:24
#5 - the only point of the Lib Dems is to get themselves elected. They are beige chancers who say whatever the voters want to hear, experts only in the art of facing both ways at once.

They blamed Labour for a financial crisis in the Council. Then produced a budget which showed that (just as Labour said all along) there never was any financial crisis. Then they had the gall to claim that they had solved the bogus financial crisis with "efficiency savings". Jokers.

Liars A-Z does not begin to describe these chameleons. They play gesture politics by not going into coalition with the Nats at Holyrood. A mile up the road, they go into Council coalition with...yep, the Nats. Hypocrisy raised to an art form.

Despicable, shameless opportunists who leave no passing bandwagon unjumped.
7

Portland Geoff,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 16:03:31
#7: Pay attention 007. Why is it then that the Lib Dems managed to deliver over 90% of their manifesto commitments when in power?

Yes they blamed Labour for the financial crisis in the council because there was literally noone else to blame- 25 years of financial mismanagement, kind of a hard accusation for Labour to dodge.

And what is opportunistic about choosing to stick to their principles rather than eat the scraps from the nationalist table after selling out with a U-Turn on policy.

The fact is that Nicol has the jump on Salmond every time they meet at FMQs. The Nats don't like it because it makes brother number 1 look bad (and he really does look bad) and Labour don't like it because everyone is waiting for Wendy to hurry up and finnish squirming so that they can get to the real show in town.



8

Ghengis McCann,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 16:48:56
#8 - Nicol has the jump on Salmond at FMQs? Lib Dems delivered 90% of their manifesto commitments? I don't know what hallucinogen you have been ingesting, but it is obviously far too strong for you. And I am no fan of the Smug One, but he has easily dominated the SP since becoming FM, whereas half the voters wouldn't even know who Nicol Stephens was if he bit their ankle.

And pay attention yourself - I know the Lib Dem opportunists blamed Labour for an alleged financial crisis. About the Lib Dems' only campaign tactic since they day they were formed has been to blame Labour for everything and the kitchen sink. The point is that there actually was no financial crisis at Edinburgh Council, as last week's budget clearly shows.

Oldest trick in the political book - invent a crisis, blame your opponents, solve the non-existent crisis and take the wholly undeserved credit. Such smoke and mirrors is the Lib Dem way of politics. You even boast about it in your campaign handbooks.

If you can't see the opportunism and hypocrisy in the Lib Dems' political posturing at Holyrood while getting into the pig-trough with SNP Councillors a mile up the road, nothing I can say will remove the beige mist from your eyes. Principles? What principles exactly are involved in looking both ways at once? How exactly does "Holyrood Nats bad, Edinburgh Nats good" translate into a principled stance?

As I said, hypocrites and opportunists with no ambition other than to get elected and be paid handsomely by the taxpayer.
9

Liberal for life,

Dunblane 27/02/2008 17:24:08
#9 - the sceptic in people like you will ultimately lead to the destruction of this planet - maybe not in your lifetime but ultimatley. Read todays Daily Mail and find out the catastrophe out there.

At the end of the day we all know its the way people dispose of these bags thats the real curse. Here in Scotland and the rest of the UK we have litter louts aplenty and if you Ghenkis McCanna are such a criminal then I hope you pay the penalty big time.
10

Sanny,

Glasgow & Portugal 27/02/2008 17:32:28
3 Richard Lionheart: -
I would certainly reduce the amount of hot air they produce. I think the writing is on the wall for the LD’s on both sides of the border.

Returning to subject: -
I understand that Germany has a system, where the manufacturer or the retailer is taxed on the amount and type of packaging they use. By making the polluter pay you have a better chance of achieving something. Perhaps we can return to the days when shopping was put into a paper bag. When a deposit was required on all bottles, returning bottles particularly beer bottles was a popular way for young lads to supplement their pocket money.

We need to look back to the days when disposal of packaging was not a major problem and find out what lessons can be learned. I think we may need to return to the wartime cry of “Waste Not Want Not”.

11

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 27/02/2008 17:47:51
I agree wholeheartedly with this. (What am I saying??? I'm agreeing with the Liberals???)

There is far too much un-neccesary packaging nowadays. From kids toys, through easter eggs to joints of meat. A check-out operator at a certain large store in Edinburgh recently told me that she HAD to put my air-tight, hermetically sealed box of chicken legs into an additional plastic bag in case of contamination of other products... "Health and safety you know..."

How rediculous. I remember the days when you used to get meat wrapped up in paper. what is wrong with going back to those days? We survived OK.
12

Moscow Central 42,

27/02/2008 17:54:52

The Liberal Democrats really should put their own house in order before they start lecuring the rest of us on environmental issues. This after all is the Party which has destroyed the equivalent of an Amazonian rain forest, bombarding the electors of this country with its trashy Citizen and Focus propaganda sheets. One of the worst offender just happens to be Michael Pringle MSP.
13

John Knox furr First Meenister,

High St, Embra 27/02/2008 19:01:15
Lib Dems call for war on packaging?? I think the packaging would win. Especially if it was a big paper bag and it surrounded them.
14

Moscow Central 42,

27/02/2008 19:24:54
12 Alternative ( High Octane ) Fuel Head

" We survived okay. " Really! From the tone and contents of many of your posts I suspect that the truth lies elsewhere. Get yout meat from Mr Jones the butcher did you?
15

Ghost Of Scotland Past,

27/02/2008 20:38:16
12) That's better I can agree once again with your posting having disagreed probably for the first time with you on the mobile thread.
I dunno if it's been said elsewhere but 16% of supermarket costs are in packaging, when in the past it is unlikely that a paper bag would have put even and old penny on the price of anything.
As for your chicken, by the time the assistant puts it in another bag it is your property and yours to say what to do with, after the point of sale your health and safety in relation to the purchased goods are your responsibility. Health and safety legislation gets so much stick these days for no good reason, the Act itself is mearly an enabling act, what happens in the real world is down to others misinterpretation of it and their perceived need to cover their own backs by
over reacting to what the law actually says.
Over packaging is the bane of my working life now, I have running battles with suppliers, who send out a transistor, less than the size of an old farthing, in a blister pack, in a plastic bag in bubble wrap, surrounded by scrunched up brown paper, in a box measuring 8 X 8 X 6 cm, triple labeled and invariably with my name spelled wrongly. I have a lot of fun when i have to return goods, but they never get the message.
16

Ghost Of Scotland Past,

27/02/2008 20:45:39
15 What if he did get his meat from Mr Jones the butcher
is obviously a pleasure you were born too late for and cannot appreciate a different lifestyle.
The only problem I ever had with paper packaging was it
stuck to stuff like freshly cut meat, but thats another pleasure you will never know, fresh food. At least then you could specify the cut and amount you wanted unlike now where the seller specifies what he wants you to buy. Ever tried getting a bone for the dog or for a pot of soup from Tescos, oh sorry you probably don't know how to make fresh soup and don't have time to share your life with a pet, sad really.
17

Ghost Of Scotland Past,

27/02/2008 21:19:17
20) Was she worth a poke?
18

Moscow Central 42,

28/02/2008 18:34:30

17 Ghost of Scotland Past

Oh dear! Another patronising silver surfer who believes there's nothing like the good old days!

Well You are wrong on all counts. I have had personal experience of gas masks, food rationing, the local butcher and green grocer, at a time when supermarkets were things to come.

As to your comments about fresh soup, my wife has an allotment and I regularly make make an excellent pot of soup with organically grown vegetables.

As I have already said, you are obviously patronising. However, from your comments to Methalions at 21 it would seem that you are rather vulgar as well.

 

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