The Big Plastic Count, the UK’s biggest investigation into household plastic waste, returns for 2024 from 11-17 March. Run by Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic, the campaign is engaging, empowering and educational for both kids and grown-ups, and aims to highlight the urgency and scale of the plastic problem, and enable people to play a part in helping solve the plastic crisis.
The brief is simple: count your plastic waste for one week and submit your results to us online.
Not only does this help participants to learn about the plastic problem by generating their own personalised household plastic footprint, but their contribution is also providing vital data that helps us to present the true scale of the plastic problem to decision-makers in government and business.
Join us in the fight against plastic waste!
Nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging are thrown away by UK households every year, and just 12% is recycled in the UK. We believe that it’s time that the government got serious about tackling the plastic crisis, and so for one week in March, thousands of schools, households, community groups and businesses will be coming together to count their plastic waste. And we want you to join them!
Almost a quarter of a million people took part in The Big Plastic Count in 2022. Together we revealed that nearly two billion pieces of plastic packaging are being thrown away a week. This year you can help build even more evidence to convince UK ministers to lead the way at the global talks that could finally phase out plastic pollution for good.
HOW IT WORKS
Taking part in The Big Plastic Count is really easy! There are just 3 simple steps:
Register today: We’ll send you a free pack with everything you need (on recycled paper and plastic-free of course!)
Get counting: Join thousands across the UK and tally all the plastic packaging you throw away for one week – 11-17 March. Then submit your results on our website.
Know your plastic: We’ll send you a personal plastic footprint which shows where it ends up. Once all the results are in, we’ll share the national picture, and the next steps on pushing the government into action.
Why are we doing it again in 2024?
You may be wondering: why are we counting again this year? Well, there's a crucial reason - in 2024, the world is facing a once in a generation opportunity to finally get to grips with the plastic waste crisis. Governments across the world are negotiating a Global Plastics Treaty which could usher in the sorts of measures we need to end the age of plastic.
Our Government has the chance to use its influence on the global stage to help make this a reality. That's why we’re calling on thousands of people across the UK to join together again and call on the UK Government to push for an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty. Together, we can build even more evidence about what really happens to our plastic, and demonstrate how the plastics problem is still with us. We will use this to convince ministers, supermarkets and big brands to lead the way at these talks.
If they fail to act, we will continue to produce far more plastic than our planet can cope with. It will result in even more people suffering severe health conditions because they’re forced to breathe in toxic air from dumped and burning plastic and more wildlife dying from eating or being entangled in plastic which ends up in our rivers and oceans.
Do you know a school that could take part?
Young people have the power to make a real difference and help shape the future of the planet. That's why we want to get as many schools to take part as possible.
We've created a teacher's pack with free resources for primary and secondary pupils, including classroom-based activities and a PowerPoint lesson. We'd love your local school to get involved!
Check out the schools section on our website for more info and to register your class.
