I also support the motion. I agree that it is the producers of the packaging that need to be responsible for their part in the creation of the vast amounts of waste that end up in the bin every year. For too long legislatures have been content to burden householders with the responsibility for recycling and waste disposal of packaging, even though they have almost no control over what most of that waste is because they don't choose the packaging they receive.

The EU landfill directive did nothing to reduce the use of packaging, and actually very little to reduce the waste going to landfill. Whilst the fines on councils slowed the rate of rubbish going to UK landfill sites, we all know that much of it was shipped to China, creating huge carbon emissions from the container ships used to carry all that waste across the globe to be dumped in landfill there. When we see images of thousands of plastic bottles in the ocean, we can apportion a fair amount of blame for that to the EU landfill directive. However, that's an argument for another day.

I'm entirely in favour of a system that holds manufacturers responsible for the disposal of the packaging they use, but we seem to be behind the curve on this. This proposal helps us to catch up, but, ideally, we should be ahead of the curve. Just a couple of days ago, Walkers started an initiative that allows and encourages customers to return empty crisp packets to them. And, for a while now, Costa has accepted not just their own used disposable coffee cups back for recycling, but also those of any other coffee outlet. These initiatives have come about to appeal to customers in response to demands from the market. They can't have come from any Government initiative because there haven't been any.

A packaging tax is not the answer in my opinion. Its cost will simply be borne by the consumer. We have to introduce proper legislation to deal with the scandals that see an online retailer send a tiny book in a huge box, or where a toothbrush is sealed by a manufacturer in a huge rectangle of near-bullet-proof plastic that requires a saw to open it.

I would like to see this proposal encompass more than just food packaging, and take the opportunity to address some of the significant concerns about food waste in the environment. For example, nothing is being done in this proposal, or elsewhere, to tackle the food waste that sees 86 million chickens—more than one chicken for every person in the UK—being thrown into landfill every year. That's a shockingly high figure. That contributes as much greenhouse gas emissions as 290,000 cars a year, according to anti-waste charity WRAP. And in coming up with that figure, WRAP took into account the cost of rearing, feeding and transporting the live birds, along with the releases of gases if they're placed in landfill. It's also been estimated that UK households throw away 34,000 tonnes of beef every year—the equivalent of 300 million beef burgers. In fact, the average family throw away £700-worth of food every year. That's an awful lot of waste that isn't addressed by this proposal. And perhaps there's going to be another one in the pipeline, and maybe you'll tell us about it, if so.

Neither does this proposal address the issue of packaging for non-food items. We're probably all familiar with the mountain of polystyrene and cardboard that accompanies a new washing machine or tv, or actually most goods, which has been used by the retailer to ensure safe arrival, but then it's down to the consumer, via their council tax, to deal with it. I hope this proposed Bill will eventually include action to tackle the excess packaging of those non-food items, and also the immoral level of wasted meat. Turning back to the packaging issue—