The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has launched a call for views on the Scottish Government’s plans to update hate crime laws.
MSPs want to know whether the public, including groups who may be directly impacted by the new law, support the proposals, or whether some parts of the Bill could be changed.
In the Bill, age is added to the characteristics which already receive extra protections from hate crimes (which are disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity). The Bill also leaves open the possibility to add ‘variations in sex characteristics’ at a later date.
In addition to adding ‘age’ and bringing together the different bits of legislation which all apply in this area at present into a single law, the proposals:
• create a new offence of ‘stirring up hatred’ against any of these groups; and,
• abolish the offence of blasphemy
As the call for views issued, Justice Committee Convener, Margaret Mitchell MSP, said: “Offences motivated by hatred or prejudice have been more harshly treated by courts for a number of years, and Committee Members broadly support extra protections for vulnerable groups.
“Certainly aspects of this Bill, such as bringing together the various different laws into one place seem eminently sensible, and a way to remove anomalies.
“However, this Bill needs careful consideration. While there are clear cut examples of hate crimes, there are also trickier cases. Making sure the law strikes the right balance, protecting those who fall victim to crime because of the prejudice of others while also protecting the freedom of thought and expression of all citizens, is the task that lies before us.
“These issues are not easy or straightforward and will outlast the current Covid-19 pandemic. It is crucial that they get the close attention and parliamentary scrutiny they deserve.
“The committee wants to hear from Scottish society about whether they agree this Bill the best way to achieve those aims. Does it give the right protections, are any groups overlooked, or could there be any unintended consequences? These are the issues we want to look at in depth as we examine this new legislation.”
On the 75th Anniversary of VE day, just a few days ahead of what would have been his 100th birthday, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity is asking people to share their remembrances of Tom, and to make a donation in his memory to help the children, families and staff of the Sick Kids hospital.
12 May 2020 marks what would have been the 100th Birthday of one of Edinburgh’s most beloved citizens – Tom Gilzean.
An indomitable spirit, decorated war veteran, and retired bus driver, Tom took up collecting for charity after his wife Anne died, and raised well over £1 million for his chosen charities.
Come rain or shine, he could be found in his bow tie and tartan trews, proudly displaying his medals and asking people to “open up their hearts” for the Sick Kids. When asked why he kept going with his phenomenal fundraising Tom would say, “I just want to help the children and keep them safe.”
When Tom passed away in November 2019, crowds lined Princes Street to witness his funeral cortege, scenes that would be unimaginable today as the centre of Edinburgh lies silent and deserted.
This spring, a host of events had been planned to honour Tom on his 100th birthday. Lockdown is preventing such public celebrations of the life of such an extraordinary man, but his incredible contribution to Edinburgh life should not be allowed to slip by.
While it is impossible to know what Tom would have made of the current situation, his son Douglas said, “I’m sure dad would have tried his best to find a way to help.”
You can email your memories of Tom to hello@echcharity.org, tweet us @echcharity or leave a message with your donation.
Please “open up your heart” and keep Tom’s memory alive by supporting the children and families of the Sick Kids.
The advice on how often people can venture outdoors changes today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
From today, Monday 11 May, the advice is now that people can go outside more than once a day to exercise. This activity should continue to be undertaken close to home. Those going out to exercise should either go alone or with members of their household.
The change does not allow people to mix with people from different households, to gather in groups, or to go out to relax outdoors.
The First Minister agreed the change following scientific advice using the framework set out by the Scottish Government last month. It was agreed that the timing was right to make the change because the impact on the vital R number – the rate of reinfection of COVID-19 – would be very limited.
Announcing the change yesterday, The First Minister said: “The core principles of lockdown in Scotland remain the same, people should stay at home to help save lives and protect the NHS.
“We do not underestimate how difficult these measures are, particularly for those living alone, or living in smaller accommodation with children or without access to a garden or outdoor home space.
“The hard work which people across Scotland have put in to follow the guidance and stay at home means we are now able to change our advice for people to exercise outdoors more than once a day.
“It is vitally important that anyone going out maintains physical distancing and strict hygiene measures in order to ensure we don’t lose ground. We have also encouraged the public to consider wearing a facial covering in enclosed spaces, where physical distancing is more difficult and where there is a risk of close contact people outwith their household.
“It also remains vitally important that anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 – a new and continuous cough or a high temperature – isolates themselves for seven days, and that anyone else in a household where someone has symptoms, isolates for 14 days.
“This change on going outside will be monitored carefully and reviewed in order to assess the effects on physical distancing and infection spread.”
Boris Johnson set out his much-anticipated ‘road map’ in an address to the nation last night. While Johnson is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as he pointed out himself, much of his speech applies to England only:
It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom – your freedom – of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war.
And you have shown the good sense to support those rules overwhelmingly.
You have put up with all the hardships of that programme of social distancing.
Because you understand that as things stand, and as the experience of every other country has shown, it’s the only way to defeat the coronavirus – the most vicious threat this country has faced in my lifetime.
And though the death toll has been tragic, and the suffering immense.
And though we grieve for all those we have lost.
It is a fact that by adopting those measures we prevented this country from being engulfed by what could have been a catastrophe in which the reasonable worst case scenario was half a million fatalities.
And it is thanks to your effort and sacrifice in stopping the spread of this disease that the death rate is coming down and hospital admissions are coming down.
And thanks to you we have protected our NHS and saved many thousands of lives.
And so I know – you know – that it would be madness now to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike.
We must stay alert.
We must continue to control the virus and save lives.
And yet we must also recognise that this campaign against the virus has come at colossal cost to our way of life.
We can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened pubs and restaurants.
And there are millions of people who are both fearful of this terrible disease, and at the same time also fearful of what this long period of enforced inactivity will do to their livelihoods and their mental and physical wellbeing.
To their futures and the futures of their children.
So I want to provide tonight – for you – the shape of a plan to address both fears. Both to beat the virus and provide the first sketch of a road map for reopening society.
A sense of the way ahead, and when and how and on what basis we will take the decisions to proceed.
I will be setting out more details in Parliament tomorrow and taking questions from the public in the evening.
I have consulted across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK.
And though different parts of the country are experiencing the pandemic at different rates.
And though it is right to be flexible in our response.
I believe that as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, there is a strong resolve to defeat this together.
And today a general consensus on what we could do.
And I stress could. Because although we have a plan, it is a conditional plan.
And since our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests.
We must protect our NHS.
We must see sustained falls in the death rate.
We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection.
We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it.
And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease – the R – back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago.
And to chart our progress and to avoid going back to square one, we are establishing a new Covid Alert System run by a new Joint Biosecurity Centre.
And that Covid Alert Level will be determined primarily by R and the number of coronavirus cases.
And in turn that Covid Alert Level will tell us how tough we have to be in our social distancing measures – the lower the level the fewer the measures.
The higher the level, the tougher and stricter we will have to be.
There will be five alert levels.
Level One means the disease is no longer present in the UK and Level Five is the most critical – the kind of situation we could have had if the NHS had been overwhelmed.
Over the period of the lockdown we have been in Level Four, and it is thanks to your sacrifice we are now in a position to begin to move in steps to Level Three.
And as we go everyone will have a role to play in keeping the R down.
By staying alert and following the rules.
And to keep pushing the number of infections down there are two more things we must do.
We must reverse rapidly the awful epidemics in care homes and in the NHS, and though the numbers are coming down sharply now, there is plainly much more to be done.
And if we are to control this virus, then we must have a world-beating system for testing potential victims, and for tracing their contacts.
So that – all told – we are testing literally hundreds of thousands of people every day. (? – Ed.)
We have made fast progress on testing – but there is so much more to do now, and we can.
When this began, we hadn’t seen this disease before, and we didn’t fully understand its effects.
With every day we are getting more and more data.
We are shining the light of science on this invisible killer, and we will pick it up where it strikes.
Because our new system will be able in time to detect local flare-ups – in your area – as well as giving us a national picture.
And yet when I look at where we are tonight, we have the R below one, between 0.5 and 0.9 – but potentially only just below one.
And though we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions I have given.
We have by no means fulfilled all of them.
And so no, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures.
And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week.
We said that you should work from home if you can, and only go to work if you must.
We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work. (NB: England only – Ed.)
And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited.
So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home.
And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces COVID-secure.
And when you do go to work, if possible do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following COVID-secure standards.
And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise.
You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household. (NB this only applies in England – Ed.)
You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.
And so every day, with ever increasing data, we will be monitoring the R and the number of new infections, and the progress we are making, and if we as a nation begin to fulfil the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months we may be able to go further.
In step two – at the earliest by June 1 – after half term – we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6 (NB: England only – Ed.)
Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays. And we will shortly be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport.
And step three – at the earliest by July – and subject to all these conditions and further scientific advice; if and only if the numbers support it, we will hope to re-open at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing.
Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity. We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.
And I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big Ifs. It depends on all of us – the entire country – to follow the advice, to observe social distancing, and to keep that R down.
And to prevent re-infection from abroad, I am serving notice that it will soon be the time – with transmission significantly lower – to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air.
And it is because of your efforts to get the R down and the number of infections down here, that this measure will now be effective.
And of course we will be monitoring our progress locally, regionally, and nationally and if there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes.
We have been through the initial peak – but it is coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous.
We have a route, and we have a plan, and everyone in government has the all-consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need.
But in the end this is a plan that everyone must make work.
And when I look at what you have done already.
The patience and common sense you have shown.
The fortitude of the elderly whose isolation we all want to end as fast as we can.
The incredible bravery and hard work of our NHS staff, our care workers.
The devotion and self-sacrifice of all those in every walk of life who are helping us to beat this disease.
Police, bus drivers, train drivers, pharmacists, supermarket workers, road hauliers, bin collectors, cleaners, security guards, postal workers, our teachers and a thousand more.
The scientists who are working round the clock to find a vaccine.
When I think of the millions of everyday acts of kindness and thoughtfulness that are being performed across this country.
And that have helped to get us through this first phase.
I know that we can use this plan to get us through the next.
And if we can’t do it by those dates, and if the alert level won’t allow it, we will simply wait and go on until we have got it right.
We will come back from this devilish illness.
We will come back to health, and robust health.
And though the UK will be changed by this experience, I believe we can be stronger and better than ever before. More resilient, more innovative, more economically dynamic, but also more generous and more sharing.
But for now we must stay alert, control the virus and save lives.
Thank you very much.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, responding to the Prime Minister’s statement, said: “This statement raises more questions than it answers, and we see the prospect of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland pulling in different directions.
“The Prime Minister appears to be effectively telling millions of people to go back to work without a clear plan for safety or clear guidance as to how to get there without using public transport.
“What the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, but we haven’t got either of those.”
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director General, said: “Today marks the first glimmer of light for our faltering economy. A phased and careful return to work is the only way to protect jobs and pay for future public services. The Prime Minister has set out the first steps for how this can happen.
“Businesses are keen to open and get our economy back on its feet. But they also know putting health first is the only sustainable route to economic recovery. The message of continued vigilance is right.
“This announcement marks the start of a long process. While stopping work was necessarily fast and immediate, restarting will be slower and more complex. It must go hand-in-hand with plans for schools, transport, testing and access to PPE. Firms will want to see a roadmap, with dates they can plan for.
“Success will rest on flexibility within a framework: clear guidance which firms can adapt for their particular circumstances. Financial support will also need to evolve for sectors moving at different speeds – some remaining in hibernation, while others get ready to open safely.
“The coming weeks should see business, government and employee representatives working together as part of a national effort built on openness and trust. This is the only way to revive the UK economy and protect both lives and livelihoods.”
Responding to the statement by the prime minister, the leader of the Unite union has called for “clarity and caution”as the country continues to combat the coronavirus which has left the UK with one of the worst death tolls in Europe.
Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said: “The decisions taken by the UK government in the coming days will shape the health and wealth of this country, not just in the immediate term but for generations to come.
“It is absolutely vital then that the UK government proceeds with total clarity and maximum caution as it works to pull the country out of lockdown – and that it gets the sequencing of the return to work right.
“People cannot get to work safely unless there is safe transport for them to use. Yet there is now a real risk that in a few hours’ time, workers will be cramming onto public transport, putting at risk their lives and those of others. This has not been thought through and the failure to do so places working people in danger.
“Similarly, issuing safety guidance to employers instead of definite, mandatory instructions is not acceptable. This runs a huge risk that some employers will follow the advice while others do not, and we urgently need to hear more from government about how it will install the inspection and enforcement systems necessary to support safe working.
“Unions like Unite have a wealth of health and safety expertise and we are already working with responsible employers to ensure that working people can be confident that they can be safe both at work and on the way to work.
“There is a standing army of tens of thousands of trades union safety representatives that could be deployed in a national effort to unlock the economy in a safe, responsible way. To fail to enlist this pool of people expert in keeping people safe at work is simply bewildering.
“We are very concerned that at the very point we need to build clarity and confidence, doing everything possible to avert a second spike, that this next phase is unfolding in a jumbled, confusing manner.
“Of course, we want to get the economy back on its feet as soon as possible but with such enormous sacrifices given by so many already, we have to honour those who have lost their lives along with those who are caring for us through this crisis by keeping people safe and by building a future of which this country can be proud.
STUC General Secretary Designate Roz Foyer said:“The Prime Minister’s management of this crisis has been so woeful that few will have any confidence in what he has laid out this evening.
“This is a three-month road map in the hands of a government that doesn’t even seem to know what it is doing from one day to the next.
“Boris Johnson has apparently announced the return to work of hundreds of thousands of non-essential workers in areas such as construction and manufacturing. In so doing he in endangering people’s lives. The Government hasn’t even published guidance on how workers will be kept safe.
“His statement that all workers who cannot work from home should go to work will cause incredible confusion and massive concern. We urgently need clarity on how workers who cannot work from home and cannot safely attend their workplace will be treated.
“And at no point did he make it clear that he was talking about England only, rather than the whole of the UK. The strain on the delivery of a four-nation approach now seems intolerable.
“Our five red lines for relaxing lockdown remain the same and apply just as much for the Scottish Government as they do Westminster.
“We need to be far further ahead in testing, have a proper contact tracing system in place, have ready supplies of PPE for any workplaces that is to re-open, and have enforcement measures in place. Each work sector must be treated according to its distinct characteristics and governed by guidelines agreed with unions. And there must be no implied threat of loss of income for workers not able to return to work. The job retention scheme must stay in place with no further reductions in levels of pay support.
“As we have made clear, we believe the Scottish Government’s more safety-first approach is broadly the right one, particularly as doubts about the R value in Scotland persist.
“We have also welcomed their willingness to negotiate the sector by sector guidance with unions. However as ongoing failures on PPE, testing and guidance for care homes show, there is not an ounce of room for complacency.
“Unions will test the strategy of the Scottish Government every step of the way and fight to ensure that the safety of workers and of the wider public remains that number one concern.”
The Prime Minister will reveal more detail when he addresses parliament today and a guidance document will be produced this afternoon.
Boris Johnson will also take questions from the public when he leads the daily press briefing at 5.30pm.
Heart Research UK – Healthy Tip – Activity at home for older adults
Written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK
Physical activity for older adults (aged 65+) while staying at home
At a time when the population is being asked to stay at home, finding ways to keep active can be challenging. Regular physical activity is strongly associated with a reduction in chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as improving mental health.
For adults aged 65 years and over, it is particularly important to do strengthening activities to maintain physical function and slow down the decline in muscle mass while keeping bones strong. Even small increases in physical activity can positively impact on health. Heart Research UK have some tips to help you meet the recommended amount of physical activity at home.
How much physical activity is recommended?
The Government recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity each week for adults. This can be broken down into chunks of ten minutes or more. It is recommended that older adults also engage in activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on two days each week. If you are not used to doing this amount of physical activity, you can start small and build up to the recommended amount over time.
Moderate Intensity Activities
(150 minutes weekly)
Your heart will beat faster, you will breathe harder, you will get warmer and you can maintain a conversation
E.g. Brisk Walking, dancing, gardening or cycling
Vigorous Intensity Activities
(75 minutes weekly)
Your heart will beat rapidly, you will breathe much harder, you will get warmer and it will be difficult to have a conversation
E.g. Running, riding a bike fast or on hills, hiking uphill or energetic dancing
Activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility
(to be done on 2 days each week)
E.g. Lifting light weights, push-ups, sit-ups, step-ups, heavy gardening and stretching.
Find hobbies that get you moving
If you tend to engage in hobbies that don’t require you to move very much, look for new hobbies that will get you moving, such as gardening, walking, weight-lifting or dancing.
Avoid long periods of inactivity
Set a timer to go off at specific times throughout the day to prompt you to do ten (or more) minutes of physical activity. Any activity is better than none. You can include a variety of light, moderate and vigorous activities. E.g. a brisk walk, sit-ups, weight-lifting, gardening or housework. You can use tins of baked beans, or similar objects, for weight-lifting.
Don’t be a couch potato
Rather than spending your evenings sitting on the sofa without moving much, why not try a few gentle exercises, such as leg raises, while watching your favourite TV show.
Examples of some exercises you can do from your sofa can be found on the NHS website, and you can find lots more healthy tips, advice and recipes at heartresearch.org.uk
The Scottish Parliament’s Covid-19 Committee, which will be tasked with considering any changes to lockdown legislation, has launched a consultation to gather views about moving out of the current lockdown phase.
The call for views is intended to inform MSPs looking at the Scottish Government’s framework for decision-making, and considering any proposals to change the current rules.
The Committee understands that future decisions will need to balance competing demands, benefits and harms, and wants to ensure a wide range of voices are taken into account before final decisions reached.
The Committee is particularly keen to gather views on:
• The overall strategy set out in the Scottish Government’s Framework for Decision Making;
• The scope for differing approaches being followed in different areas – across Scotland or the UK;
• Maintaining public confidence in the public sector response to COVID-19 whilst easing current restrictions;
• How different interests could be involved in the decision-making process about lifting restrictions, and what would help the final decisions to be widely supported despite any necessary trade-offs;
• Could the current decision-making processes used by the Scottish Government to respond to COVID-19 be improved, and if so how;
• How robust is the data used to inform the response;
• How should the Scottish Government’s messaging strategy be developed as we transition out of the current lockdown (and potentially have to create other or further restrictions in the future).
Speaking as the call for views was launched, Committee Convener, Murdo Fraser MSP, said: “This is an unprecedented and complex situation which requires the Scottish Government to make difficult decisions, necessarily involving competing interests and challenging trade-offs.
“Rightly, until now, we have relied heavily on doctors and scientists. But as we move into the next phases of the Covid-19 response, as a Committee we are mindful of the need to involve a wide range of voices.
“The discussions and debates in the weeks and months ahead do not have obvious or ‘right’ answers, and understanding what different sections of society think is vital to being able to find a consensus, or at least broad agreement, on the path forward.
“To help us as we seek to find that route, we are asking people – business groups, charities, civil society, and interested members of the public – to drop us a short response outlining their thoughts on how we can and should find the right balance moving forward.”
The STUC has published it’s ‘red lines’ for action before any relaxation to the current lockdown should be considered.It has also released its letter to Alok Sharma raising serious concerns about UK approach to workplace guidance.
STUC’s red lines
Capacity for greater testing and a return to contact tracing
Capacity to supply PPE to non-essential workplaces
Sectoral Guidance needs to be agreed between unions and employers
Effective enforcement measures must be in place.
A continuation of the job retention scheme and other support for those who cannot work.
In its letter to Mr. Sharma,the STUC criticises the UK Government for a failure to properly consult, for sending mixed messages ahead of Sunday’s announcement and for producing weak workplace guidance to date which will likely cause safety issues and problems within a workplace context and may even put lives at risk.
The STUC will only support a four-nation approach if the UK Government puts safety of workers and the general public first.
It is calling on the Scottish Governmentto maintain and strengthen its safety-first approach and to continue to work closely with the STUC to prepare detailed safety guidance for different industrial sectors.
The STUC also pledged support for any workers who collectively refuse to return to work because of legitimate safety fears.
STUC General Secretary Designate Rozanne Foyer said: “Ahead of the Prime Minister’s much trailed announcement on Sunday, there have been a series of mixed messages and confusing briefings emanating from Number 10.
“Any move towards lifting restrictions on workplaces re-opening must be evidenced based, open and transparent and be for the four nations of the UK if possible. However, the four-nation approach is only possible insofar as the UK Government prioritises safety over profit and takes into account the levels of infection across each part of the UK. We will not support a four-nation approach if it puts additional lives at risk.
“Equally, there must be no weakening of the Scottish Government’s resolve. That is why we have published our five key principles which outline the measures which must be in place before return to work commences in any non-essential workplace.
“We need to be far further ahead in testing, have a proper contact tracing system in place, have ready supplies of PPE for any workplaces that is to re-open, and have enforcement measures in place.
“Each work sector must be treated according to its distinct characteristics and governed by guidelines agreed with unions. And there must be no implied threat of loss of income for workers not able to return to work. The job retention scheme must stay in place with no further reductions in levels of pay support.
“And we have a very clear message to employers and to all levels of government. If workers have legitimate safety fears, unions will use all means at their disposal to keep them safe and the STUC will support any action aimed to protect workers in Scotland.”
· As Brits admit to using 242 plastic bottles and more than 100 coffee cups each year, DS Smith exposes the confusion in recycling.
· A survey revealed 30% of recycled waste goes in the wrong bin.
· To combat this, DS Smith has announced its Circular Design Principles to help companies design reuse and recyclability into their packaging.
New research from sustainable packaging leader DS Smith has showed that the average Briton gets through 242 plastic bottles, 109 coffee cups and 209 crisp packets each year.
We will also bin 378 snack wrappers, 251 cans, and 374 cardboard boxes or paper packets annually. The study also found it’s not just food and drink packaging piling up, as the UK will collectively throw away 468 million spray bottles from cleaning products and 520 million shampoo bottles every year.
The figures also show that 83% of Brits are not clear which of these types of items can and can’t be recycled. Indeed, the average Brit admits to throwing 30% of their recyclable material into general waste, potentially costing the economy more than £95m each year.
This lack of clarity hasn’t gone unnoticed and this week DS Smith announced its Circular Design Principles to help companies design reuse and recyclability into their packaging so that it becomes easier for customers to become part of a circular economy. The principles have been developed in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global thought leader on the circular economy.
Risk-averse recycling
The figures show that when unsure about whether a package can be recycled, over four in ten (44%) Brits say they prefer to ‘play it safe’ and place their packets in the general waste bin.
A total of 56% of Brits admitted that they had put things in general waste they thought could be recycled, with 32% of these saying they did so because the label was unclear.
Experts at leading sustainability packaging brand DS Smith have labelled these people ‘risk-averse recyclers’ and highlighted that their desire to not contaminate recycling waste could mean that 2.6m tonnes of recyclable materials could be going to landfill each year.
Stefano Rossi, Packaging CEO, said, “There is an undeniable desire from the public to help with the climate crisis, but a lot of packaging is still not recyclable, and people are confused about what packaging goes into which bin.
“We have launched our Circular Design Principles to help companies evolve to meet the needs of the public. By introducing this set of principles, we can design for recyclability, design out waste and pollution, create packaging suited to a circular economy and make it easier to provide labelling to help consumers recycle more.”
Wish-cyclers
At the other end of the spectrum are ‘wish-cyclers’: the 30% of people who, faced with uncertainty over whether their boxes, bottles and containers can be recycled, put them in the recycling bin and hope for the best.
More than half (51%) admitted to putting things in the recycling that can’t be recycled, and among those, 44% said it was because they didn’t know where else it should go, and 21% because they were hopeful the packaging would get a second chance and recyclers would put it in the right bin.
More than a third (37%) said that they’ve even put something in the recycling bin that still has food and drink on it – which will contaminate the recycling.
Some of this could be attributed to laziness: 16% have put general waste into the recycling because it was easier and more than a quarter (27%) have done so because they weren’t paying attention. What’s more, around a fifth (19%) Brits confessed that they rarely or never check labels before putting an item in the recycling.
A lack of clarity
However, what’s clear is both wish-cyclers and risk-averse recyclers are suffering from the same core problems – unclear recycling rules and unclear recycling information on packaging.
More than half of all those surveyed said the recycling information on packaging is unclear (56%) and almost a third (32%) said there was no clear recycling label to follow. Further to this, a fifth (21%) reported that they are uncertain about the recycling rules where they live with a similar number (23%) admitting they don’t know which recycling bins to put rubbish in in the first place.
In addition to making recycling clearer, DS Smith’s Circular Design Principles have been developed to design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. A circular economy model benefits the environment and can drive growth for the packaging industry.
DS Smith’s five Circular Design Principles are:
1. We protect brands and products – Designers must always ensure that packaging successfully protects its product. Damaged products from poor packaging have an economic and environmental impact
2. We use no more materials than necessary – Optimised use of packaging materials saves resources and reduces waste
3. We design for supply cycle efficiency – Our designers drive efficiency by changing the layout of products within boxes for stacking in delivery vehicles
4. We keep packaging materials in use – We eliminate waste by keeping packaging products in use for as long as possible. We can ‘close the loop’ for customers in 14 days by recycling packaging into new products
5. We find a better way – We empower our designers to challenge the status quo and support customers in the drive for a circular economy
We’re recording the visual signs of how life in Edinburgh has changed during these strange times on Edinburgh Collected, our online community archive (www.edinburghcollected.org).
We’re particularly keen to see the little acts of creativity and messages of thanks and positivity that are helping us all to keep smiling.
We’ve had some lovely picture memories shared to Edinburgh Collected so far.
Do you have any from your neighbourhood walk that you can add to Edinburgh Collected?
Anyone can create an account and add pictures and memories to Edinburgh Collected.
