Environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet will go head-to-head with leading figures in the plastics industry during a major debate in Birmingham today (Wednesday, 26 February 2019).

Headlining the first day of Packaging Innovations Fair 2019, The Big Plastics Debate will home in on the future of packaging in the UK and beyond.

The debate, held at the fair’s Ecopack Stage, will see two teams of experts engage in a probing discussion on plastic packaging.

Plastic-free

The speakers will debate the motion: ‘This house believes plastic packaging will always be fundamental to our everyday lives.’

A Plastic Planet co-founder Sian Sutherland and Iceland Foods Packaging Manager Ian Schofield will be challenging the motion, while British Plastics Federation Plastic Packaging Group Director Barry Turner and Heriot-Watt University Professor of Materials Chemistry David Bucknall will be in favour of it.

The debate comes at a time when industry is being challenged to adopt more sustainable packaging amid growing concerns about the impact of plastic pollution.

Founded in 2017, A Plastic Planet has built a formidable coalition of global support for a plastic-free future.

Brands

As well as featuring in the debate, A Plastic Planet will host an exhibition of products packaged exclusively in plastic-free materials in a stand throughout the duration of the fair.

Products on show will include tea, coffee, chocolate, dairy, bread and fresh meat packaged in innovative materials such as wood, cellulose and compostable biomaterials as well as in traditional materials such as glass and metal.

Packaging Innovations Birmingham is the UK’s leading packaging event, taking place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

The two-day event brings together brands and retailers with more than 300 packaging suppliers spanning the entirety of the packaging supply chain.

Toxic plastic

Sian Sutherland said: “The Big Plastics Debate is vitally important. Our audience comprises the people who have the power to design our packaging without indestructible toxic plastic. There are already so many alternative materials and we need to accelerate the switch to them.  Of course, everything comes down to one thing – money.

“Somehow those brands that have pumped out plastic for decades have zero responsibility for the devastation it continues to create. We need to show our children that we care about their future rather than short term convenience and profit.

“Plastic pollution is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time and very rarely do people get the opportunity to see those on both sides for and against plastic come together in one place to discuss their opposing views.

“The motion that plastic packaging will always be fundamental to our everyday lives is simply bonkers. This debate should flesh out why we all need to face up to our plastic addiction, start telling the truth and start on a very different path.”

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Higginson Strategy. For more information on the debate click here.