News / Environment
‘We must eradicate single-use plastic from the fast food industry’
With the future of the planet at stake, one campaigner is on a mission to eradicate single-use plastics from Britain’s takeaway and restaurant industry.
“It just has to stop,” says Naseem Talukdar, speaking passionately about the about the need for drastic action to address the problem as he sips a cup of tea in a far corner of the Porto Lounge on Fishponds Road one recent Thursday morning.
At the end of 2018, he successfully launched Plastic Pollution Awareness and Action Projects, a charity dedicated to raising awareness of and tackling the scourge of plastic pollution.
is needed now More than ever
Naseem, who already heads the Bristol-based charity Feed the Homeless, plans to start with the restaurant and takeaway industry, something he knows a thing or two about because his family has been involved in the trade for years.
“Everything I do involves food,” says Naseem. “It is the universal language and universal need.
“We have over 55,000 takeaway places in England and many are not aware of the harm plastic does.
“They know it’s bad, but they just think recycling is the way forward. We actually recycle just a tiny percentage of plastics in the UK, the rest we just ship out to a different country. Recycling is not the answer, prevention is the answer.”
Naseem says the fast food and restaurant industry needs to change
‘Single-use’ was named word of the year by the Collins Dictionary in 2018 and Bristol is at the forefront of change, with City To Sea’s hugely successful Refill campaign now a nationwide scheme and Boston Tea Party’s stance as the first ever coffee shop to ban takeaway cups.
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Read more: Boston Tea Party named UK’s most ethical coffee shop
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The message is slowly getting through, but Naseem says there is still much to be done to generate real and lasting change.
He believes that because the harm caused by plastics is largely unseen, it is more difficult to get people to relate to the scale of the problem and take bold action.
Naseem adds that the current ‘bottom-up’ approach that leaves it largely to consumers to make sustainable choices is wrong and argues a ‘top down’ approach is needed.
“We are struggling even with just cutting out plastic straws and the straw is just the tip of the iceberg,” says the campaigner, who was inspired to act after seeing the devastation caused by plastic pollution in a documentary.
“I want to eradicate plastic pollution from the fast food industry and I think we all need to take responsibility for it. Plastic is getting into our ecosystem and our food system.
“We need to change the whole system and we need customers to be part of that change. We need people to go into a restaurant and say, ‘I want my option to be non-plastic and I’m happy to pay for it’.”
Plastics found on the Avon riverbanks in Bristol. Photo by Michelle Cassar
With Plastic Pollution Awareness and Action Projects securing charitable status in December, the next step is to source funding to pay for research into non-plastic alternatives for fast food and restaurant businesses.
Naseem already has students from the University of Bristol and UWE Bristol on board to conduct research, as well as a group of 12 – 15 businesses willing to take part in a pilot programme.
“We are looking for something affordable and modern, so we are going forward not backward,” he states.
“We want to spread the message that non-plastic is the future. I’m really interested to speak to any organisation that might want to support this project.
“The only way the restaurants will adopt something new is if it benefits them. Restaurants are generally small businesses, they cannot afford to do it all themselves.”
Naseem points out that the European Parliament has recently voted to ban single-used plastics across the EU.
“If they can do it, why are we behind?” he questions, adding: “I’m happy to take it all the way to parliament.
“It’s important, it’s something we really should worry about because our future is at stake.”
While the plan is to launch a small pilot project in Bristol, Naseem intends to take the campaign nationwide because a global problem needs a widespread solution.
Main photo: Naseem with chef Shamim Ahmed, who is taking part in the first pilot project
Read more: ‘Bristol’s single-use plastic habit is a permanent pollution burden’
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