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The Big Plastic Count 2026 results are in... and they're hard to ignore

6 August 2026
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Over 68,000 people across the UK counted their plastic waste for one week, revealing the true scale of our plastic problem. Together, they recorded more than 1.5 million pieces of plastic.

  • UK households throw away an estimated 82 BILLION pieces of plastic packaging every year.
  • 59 per cent is burned.
  • Just 16 per cent is recycled.
  • Another 16 per cent is exported to other countries.
  • Food and drink packaging makes up 82 per cent of household plastic waste, while an estimated 13 billion pieces of fruit and veg packaging are discarded every year. Most of this flexible plastic is extremely difficult to recycle or there is no prevision to recycle it.

The message is clear: we can't recycle our way out of the plastics crisis. Visit https://thebigplasticcount.com/ to find out what you can do to prevent plastic waste and to join the campaign for change.