Brits' ‘green double standards' revealed

Thousands of tonnes of recyclable waste are being put in landfill each week because Britons are placing too much reliance on councils' green schemes instead of seizing the initiative themselves.

New research for Zurich into attitudes to green issues reveals that despite the pressure to look after the environment, on average Brits are only recycling half of their rubbish (51 per cent), leading to mountains of re-usable waste being buried in landfills or burned in incinerators.

Each week, Britons cast aside enough cans to stretch from London to Sydney, a wall of boxes more than three times the length of the Great Wall of China, and enough plates of food for every man, woman and child in Canada to have three square meals.

The study reveals that a quarter (23 per cent) of Britons who throw away items they know they could recycle do so because travelling to the recycling centre is too much hassle. While the public is mainly pleased with councils' green initiatives, many people do not bother to utilise the recycling opportunities available to them, with four in ten (41 per cent) only recycling if it is picked up from the doorstep.

While four-fifths (79 per cent) admit that they would be more active recyclers if councils collected more in their roadside pick-ups, the green malaise has other contributory factors. Of those who throw away recyclable items, one in eight (13 per cent) think it is too much trouble to wash out containers and one in ten (nine per cent) find it inconvenient to sort waste.

The survey also reveals that despite the majority supporting supermarkets' plans to charge for plastic bags, there is significant hostility to the move with a fifth (20 per cent) of those surveyed disagreeing with the initiative.

Andrew Jepp, Head of Local Government for Zurich's public sector business, Zurich Municipal commented: "This research clearly shows the green double standards of the average Briton. While people are in favour of recycling, we still throw away half of everything we use - largely because we think it is too much trouble to change our habits."

"This data also displays the scale of the problem Councils face when it comes to recycling in this country. People are only happy to go green on their own terms and that means a heavy reliance on Local Authority initiatives. As recycling will only grow as an issue in the coming years, people will further demand easier access to green initiatives. Therefore it is vital for councils to continue to develop flexible plans to meet the demands of this changing landscape."

The research also reveals that Britain's fly-tipping problem is increasing, with four in ten (43 per cent) believing it has got worse in the last three years. As a result, the public is calling for stiff penalties to deal with the menace, with almost half (45 per cent) believing a car used to fly-tip should be seized and destroyed and one in five (19 per cent) wanting the perpetrators to go to prison.