WEST Dorset's MP is proposing legislation to cut down the use of single-use plastics.

Chris Loder has proposed changes to the Environment Bill which would see a reduction in the amount of non-essential single-use plastic products sold in the UK.

The MP spoke in parliament on Tuesday, January 26, calling for the government to set targets and commit to dates as to when these goals to reduce plastic waste would be met.

Mr Loder said: “The volume of plastic packaging in supermarkets is outrageously high and continues to rise. We have become a grab and go, throw-away society; heavily influenced by supermarkets selling products packaged in single-use plastics, often with no other choice.

"The problem is now so great here in the UK that up to two thirds of our plastic waste is shipped abroad to developing countries - 7,133 tonnes in September 2020 alone; and that has to stop.

“It’s time to take decisive action on the scourge of plastic pollution and for supermarkets to take responsibility for the environmental disaster being caused by the single-use plastics on their shelves.”

Mr Loder said that up to 13 million tonnes of plastic enters our seas every year, harming marine wildlife, habitats and biodiversity.

A group of MPs who are calling for the changes penned a letter to the Prime Minister, stating that whilst government initiatives – such as the ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds – have had positive impacts, a more over-arching approach is needed to deal with the problem.