Yahoo News Michael Gove needs to 'get his house in order' as Defra's plastic waste is revealed
Michael Gove's department has pledged to crackdown on waste after it was revealed it gets through 1,400 disposable cups a day.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has purchased 2.5million disposable coffee cups - which contain plastic - over the past five years.
The figures emerged after Mr Gove, the Environment Secretary, said he was "haunted" by the programme Blue Planet, which showed footage of the impact of plastic on the oceans.
Still haunted by last night's #BluePlanet2 - the imperative to do more to tackle plastic in our oceans is clear. We @DefraGovUK will work urgently to identify further action.
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 20, 2017
A Defra spokesman said: "We are committed to reducing unnecessary waste within the department and these figures show the number of disposable cups used has fallen by more than half since 2013.
“We are working with our suppliers to see what more can be done to further cut their use and promote recycling.”
On Sunday Blue Planet II on BBC One featured footage of a pilot whale carrying its dead newborn. The programme suggested it may have been poisoned by plastic.
Mr Gove subsequently tweeted: “Still haunted by last night's #BluePlanet2 - the imperative to do more to tackle plastic in our oceans is clear. We @DefraGovUK will work urgently to identify further action.”
The Government is examining plans to introduce new levies on plastic.
Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesperson and former leader, hit back telling Mr Gove to “get his house in order.”
Mr Farron said : "It's astounding that the department which is supposed to be protecting our environment is responsible for such a colossal amount of waste.
"Michael Gove needs to get his own house in order.”
Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, is expected to use his Budget tomorrow to announce a “call for evidence” on how taxes on single-use plastics could reduce the impact of discarded waste on the environment.
The Government levied a 5p charge on plastic bags in October 2015.
According to the environmental audit committee, seven million cardboard coffee cups are thrown away every day but just 0.0025 per cent are recycled.
