WITH 5 million tonnes of plastic used each year throughout the UK, it has now become a serious issue as much of the plastic discarded does not break down.

The Big Plastic Count is asking for help and thousands of people have already signed up to participate. They are asking people to check how much plastic they are throwing away and at the end of the week, submit results onto their website.

4.25 billion items of single-use cutlery and 1.1 billion single-use plates and 2.5 billion of disposable coffee cups are disposed of annually and this often ends up in landfill where it may last for centuries.

At times, it ends up in rivers where it pollutes and harms natural life.

The information collated will be used to drive companies and supermarkets to tackle these issues and to encourage the government to look beyond its failed targets.

Every region across the country can help to gather the evidence and the idea is to aim for a 50 percent reduction of single use plastic by 2025.

More information is available on the Big Plastic Count website.

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