1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:05,720 Let's get noticed, shall we? 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,200 Microphone, check. List of names, check. Wish me luck. 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:18,880 Hi. 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,440 I have been e-mailing your press office. 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,520 I've got a list of names here, I've come a long way to talk to them. 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:26,960 Yes, that's my van. 7 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,880 We use them day in, day out and they're great useful things, 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,640 but we need to start understanding what they're made of. 9 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,840 And all they need to do is stick it on the packaging! 10 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,400 So far in our war on plastic... 11 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:51,920 ..Anita and I have challenged the street 12 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,320 to kick their single-use habit... 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,600 So, are you up for it? 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,800 ..we've gone deep undercover... 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:00:59,920 It's good and cold. 16 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:01,320 Oh! It's tap water. 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,520 ..and made shocking discoveries. 18 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,280 The whole thing's just nuts, isn't it? 19 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,400 Now we're looking at the hidden plastics in our everyday lives. 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,120 I've just discovered they're everywhere. 21 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,800 Lurking in our best loved bathroom products... 22 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:17,640 Really? There's plastic in them? 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,960 That's crazy. 24 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:24,360 ..even in the air that we breathe. 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:29,200 That's sort of raining down invisible all around us. 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,280 And while Anita steps the street experiment up a gear... 27 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,760 Why are you doing this to us?! 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,680 ..I'm pushing at the top for a rethink of the system. 29 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:42,200 The ball is really in your court. 30 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,240 Now, I tell you, I understand. 31 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,040 Six weeks ago, Hugh and I helped 22 houses on a typical British street 32 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,920 in East Bristol count all their single-use plastic. 33 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,440 Here's some baskets for you all, get going. 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,440 This is the plastic packaging that contains our everyday essentials, 35 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,040 like food or toiletries, for a few days or weeks 36 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,120 before we throw it away. 37 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,560 We scaled up the street counts for a snapshot of how much 38 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,280 we all have in our homes across the country. 39 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,440 19 and a half billion. 40 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,320 That's not cool. 41 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,320 The street have taken on the challenge of seeing how much 42 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,520 they can reduce their tally over four months. 43 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,560 Wax covered cheese. 44 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,040 It's a small victory. 45 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,680 So far, most of our attention has been on the kitchen. 46 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,280 Milk delivery. 47 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,680 Now, I'm shifting the focus of my visits to another room 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:50,680 in the house that's also full of plastic, 49 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,680 the bathroom. 50 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,600 Hello, Anna. Hello. 51 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,640 Anna and her boyfriend Nick started with the highest single-use 52 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:00,200 plastic count on the street. 53 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,080 I don't think it's something that we can change overnight. 54 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,200 Nick, you've got body wash, why don't you just use the soap? 55 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:07,880 I'll give it a go, I'll give it a go. Good. 56 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,520 I've got sensitive skin, though. 57 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:11,160 Look at that! 58 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,360 And across the road, 27-year-old Jess has already started 59 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:16,840 to make some changes. 60 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:18,760 I have bought an alternative. Have you? 61 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:20,000 I'm not sure I'm a fan of it. 62 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,280 Toothpaste. 63 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,840 I use that and then I use this afterwards, just to be sure. 64 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,040 What's the point of that? 65 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,440 And in every bathroom I visit, there's one plastic wrapped product 66 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:34,440 I keep noticing. 67 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:35,680 These. 68 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,920 Saskie has a five-year-old son, Ezra. 69 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,760 We have got through a lot of wipes since he was born. 70 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,000 Facial cleansing wipes. They're easy to take away with you, they're easy 71 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,720 to travel with, like, they're really convenient. 72 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,600 I don't have any face wipes. 73 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:53,680 But I like toilet wipes. 74 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,560 I can't imagine going to the loo without them. 75 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,240 I don't like buying them, because they're in a plastic packet. 76 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,560 But it's the whole little gang of us who love a wipe, 77 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:05,880 a toilet wipe. It's a thing. 78 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,360 It's a thing! Soft luxuries. 79 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,240 Exactly! And that's how it makes me feel, luxurious. 80 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,440 A bit of digging reveals it's not just the plastic packaging 81 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,520 of wet wipes that poses a problem. 82 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:21,960 Morning! 83 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,880 So, I've organized a little outing to show the street the true scale 84 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,360 of the issue. 85 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,400 Here we go, the bus is here. Quick! 86 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,000 Come on. 87 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,000 I love a school trip. 88 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,880 MUSIC PLAYS 89 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:39,920 My Saturday morning crew. 90 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,000 Can anyone guess where we might be going? 91 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,480 It's got to be Avonmouth. 92 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,680 If it's Avonmouth, why didn't we go up the port way? 93 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,800 Because the GPS is taking us around the wrong way, the long way. 94 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:50,880 If you think about it, if you go over... 95 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,360 You can drop over to Henbury and Shirehampton. 96 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,280 # We're going where the sun shines brightly 97 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,720 # We're going where the sea is blue...# 98 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,880 ON THE GPS: You have reached your destination. 99 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,440 Oh, no! 100 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,480 PASSENGERS COUGH & RETCH 101 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,160 Why are you doing this to us?! 102 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:16,760 Right. 103 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,400 Come on, guys, this way. 104 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,400 We've got such a treat in store for you all. 105 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,200 Lead the way, Matt. 106 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,000 Matt Wheeldon is director of compliance at Wessex Water 107 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,480 and part of his job is to make sure anything that comes into Bristol 108 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,520 sewers that could harm the environment is removed. 109 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,720 I can't do this! I'm going to be vomiting. 110 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,360 DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS 111 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,360 Oh, my God. 112 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,120 Have a look at this huge mountain behind me. 113 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,960 This is 16 tonnes of wet wipes. 114 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:17,160 That is revolting. 115 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,920 This is from the city of Bristol alone 116 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,840 and this has been collected in three and a half days. 117 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,320 Mountains of it. 118 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,240 ANITA GAGS 119 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,880 You may well have heard about the problem of wipes combining 120 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,600 with fat to create drain-blocking fatbergs. 121 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,840 But that's just part of the wipe issue. 122 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,800 That's come all the way through the sewer system, it's probably been 123 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,320 through several pumps and that has got plastic in it and that is 124 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:47,880 not going to break down. 125 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,560 90% of the wet wipes on the market contain plastic. 126 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,920 Who knew that wipes had plastic in them? 127 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,440 How is that even allowed? 128 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:00,720 Doesn't make any sense. It's a crazy situation. 129 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,400 Obviously, not everyone flushes them down the toilet, 130 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,920 but they're still going somewhere. 131 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:07,040 It's still plastic. 132 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,000 It's still in the system and it's still a massive problem. 133 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,600 We've got to get a grip, haven't we? 134 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,640 I don't understand how the government is... 135 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:15,880 ..not already dealt with this. How they haven't seen 136 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:17,760 that this is a problem already. 137 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,840 The issue with wipes isn't just that they're being flushed 138 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,000 when they shouldn't be. 139 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:28,480 This pile represents just a fraction of what's being used in one city. 140 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,640 And almost every wipe is yet another piece of single-use plastic 141 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:38,720 which will be buried, burnt or worse still, end up in the sea. 142 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:46,000 A country of just over 60 million people buy 11 billion wipes a year. 143 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,120 Can you imagine how big the pile would be if it was the whole country? 144 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:50,800 To the moon. To the moon! 145 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,320 So just how plastic are wet wipes? 146 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,920 I've come to Middlesex University, where I've asked for a selection 147 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,840 of different wipes to be tested by analytical chemist 148 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,800 Dr Leonardo Pantoja. 149 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,400 In order to find out the actual composition 150 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:17,960 of the fibre material, 151 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:19,560 we're going to add some acid. 152 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:24,200 And this goes into a microwave digester, in which it is heated up 153 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,040 and also it's under pressure. 154 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,440 As the acid is heated, it will dissolve any natural material 155 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:36,120 that could be in the wipe, such as paper or cotton. 156 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:38,800 Out we come. 157 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,120 So, the next part is to release the pressure. 158 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,680 You can see the nitric acid flowing out of it. Oh, yes. 159 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:46,040 That's quite a thing. 160 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,400 So, if there's anything left in the tube, Leonardo, 161 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,320 it will be plastic. 162 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:52,360 Exactly. 163 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,840 So, this is what is coming out. 164 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,840 A little bit broken. 165 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,880 But this is it. What?! 166 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,280 Let me put some gloves on, so I can have a feel of that. 167 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,440 So, all of this is plastic? 168 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:09,120 That's crazy! 169 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,840 That is practically an entire wet wipe. 170 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:22,440 Scales confirm that the majority of this wipe has been left behind. 171 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,240 84%. 172 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:25,480 Exactly 84%. 173 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:26,600 Most of it's plastic. 174 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,600 Most of it and, obviously, none of this is in the information 175 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,680 that is given to the consumer on the labels. 176 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:35,040 I had no idea. 177 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,800 I think the vast majority of the public have no idea there's plastic 178 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,000 in a wet wipe. 179 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,520 Can you tell me what wipe we've been testing? 180 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,760 This is the wipe that we've been testing. 181 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,240 Johnson & Johnson baby wipe. 182 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,640 I mean that's, this is an essential for a lot of parents. 183 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,520 Leonardo uses another technique to confirm the chemical fingerprint 184 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,760 of a different plastic in other popular brands. 185 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,880 Including Procter & Gamble's Pampers and Kimberly-Clark's Huggies. 186 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,280 We found some cellulose, which is a natural fibre, 187 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,160 but most wipes again are made of plastic material. 188 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,000 So, it does contain natural fibres, but it also contains plastic. 189 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:17,040 Exactly, yes. 190 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:19,640 Oh, dear. 191 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,960 My goodness. That's an absolute disaster, isn't it? 192 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:27,320 Because we are, we're practically wipe fanatics in this country. 193 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,640 When we do buy something in single-use plastic, 194 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,920 we're encouraged to do the right thing and, if it's recyclable, 195 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,680 make sure we recycle it. 196 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,120 I've been exploring how well this system is working, 197 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:51,000 by tracing some of the 665,000 tonnes of plastic 198 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,440 we sent abroad for recycling in the last year. 199 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,200 What a mess! 200 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:00,080 When I visited Malaysia, I was shocked to discover vast 201 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,400 mountains of exposed plastics that are clearly never 202 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,200 going to be recycled. 203 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,880 It's like some dystopian nightmare. 204 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,960 A plastic planet. 205 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:17,680 Within minutes I found plastic from UK supermarkets, UK brands 206 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:21,040 and even UK recycling bags. 207 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:22,960 We've got Milton Keynes here. 208 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,040 Rhondda...that's Wales. 209 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,520 Braintree District Council. 210 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,680 The whole thing's just nuts, isn't it? 211 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,320 And I met families who believe the burning of foreign plastics 212 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,280 is affecting their health. 213 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:37,800 Oh, my God. 214 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,160 I want to find out who's responsible for this mess. 215 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:47,640 Is it our government? 216 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:49,360 Is it our supermarkets? 217 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,000 Is it the manufacturers of these goods? 218 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,080 I start by going back up the export chain and ask to speak 219 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,160 to the council whose bags I found in Malaysia, 220 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,760 about how their plastics are handled at home and abroad. 221 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,240 The first to reply is Rhondda Cynon Taff, in South Wales. 222 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,920 This is a national database and I found the bit of it 223 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,800 that applies to Rhondda Council. 224 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,640 And in this column over here 225 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:26,040 is a list of businesses who receive recycling material from Rhondda 226 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,280 Council, and then suddenly, in this column, look, Malaysia. 227 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,680 And again here, Malaysia. 228 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:35,760 There's no address, no company name. 229 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,320 And actually if you look at the, the numbers involved, it comes 230 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,760 to well over a thousand tonnes of mixed plastics that were sent 231 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,440 to Malaysia during this period of just over a year. 232 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,520 This data is publicly available, so I'm hoping Rhondda council 233 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,800 can shed some light on the issue. 234 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,440 They've put forward their Director of Street Care Services... 235 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:00,720 Hi, there. 236 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:01,920 ..Nigel Wheeler. 237 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,160 You must be Nigel. Yeah. 238 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,960 How are you? Welcome. 239 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,280 We have between 550-580 tonnes a week coming in here. 240 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,160 This is all mixed recycling. 241 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:14,360 Yes. 242 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,760 So this is one of your... 243 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:18,920 ..local recycling bags. 244 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,720 Here's the list of things that are allowed in. Yes. 245 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,040 And, you know, some of the final bales there. 246 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,600 Where will this go now? 247 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,560 This here goes to our contractor, who takes our plastic. 248 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,120 They'll then wash it, clean it, send it to a reprocessing plant. 249 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,680 Does this plastic always stay in the UK? 250 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:39,560 Yes. Nothing goes to China, it's all done in this country. 251 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,120 Because I've been trying to do some 252 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,600 background work on where all the plastics in the UK end up. 253 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,040 I've been looking at the waste data flow spreadsheets. 254 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,880 And I managed to find one for Rhondda for the past year 255 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:59,240 or so and at the final column here, it says the final users. 256 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:00,920 It says Malaysia. 257 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,600 And then Poland here, 258 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,880 and then Malaysia again. 259 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,840 I'd have to check what materials they are. 260 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:14,520 I actually went out to Malaysia to find out how much UK plastics 261 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:19,120 were actually reaching Malaysia and in amongst that, 262 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,480 I actually found a plastic bag from Rhondda. 263 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,320 Right, OK. 264 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,080 So, that is reaching Malaysia and I'm just trying to find out, 265 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,040 I mean, did you have any idea that any of your plastics 266 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:33,480 were going to Malaysia? 267 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,400 Material has gone out from here, but we don't send much now. 268 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,440 I'd have to check what material we've sent out to Malaysia. 269 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,000 I mean, I was there just a few... Yeah, I'd have to check. 270 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:44,640 ..a few weeks ago. 271 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,000 I mean, I've got the... 272 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,520 Are you happy to go through with this? Not really. I'm going to stop this, then. 273 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,080 I mean, at the end of day, all we've done, can we stop the camera? 274 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,840 What we've done is give you permission to come on the site to film the actual process... Sure. 275 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,080 ..from our point of view. 276 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,440 I mean, confronting our director here about... I just thought 277 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,240 you would want to know. 278 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:03,760 Where do I go next? 279 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,360 To find out how this material is getting to Malaysia. 280 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,960 Well, I will look into that, how that's got there. 281 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,400 Can we not film, please? 282 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,360 I don't know what to make of that. 283 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,040 Clearly asking about Malaysia was a very sensitive question. 284 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:27,160 The comms guy steps in and ends the interview and I'm left wondering... 285 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,400 ..does the person who is meant to know where this plastic is going 286 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,160 actually know? 287 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,720 I think it's pretty obvious that this situation isn't 288 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,120 going to be unique to Rhondda. 289 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,920 I've got plastic bags that I picked up in Malaysia from Braintree 290 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,840 Council, from Milton Keynes Council. 291 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,400 And what I'm beginning to wonder is, 292 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,560 is this actually the picture all over the UK? 293 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,160 Is it somehow systemic? 294 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,800 And if that's the case, what's driving it? 295 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:54,440 And how can it be sorted out? 296 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,800 The person who's ultimately in charge of our recycling 297 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,360 is the Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Gove. 298 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,000 So, I'm going to write to him to ask for a meeting to discuss 299 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,480 how it can be fixed. 300 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,360 Wet wipes have become daily essentials. 301 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,880 Before I discovered they contained plastic, I got through quite a few 302 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,360 for removing make-up. 303 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:27,920 Look at it. 304 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:34,200 Perhaps it's no wonder the global market has increased by 30% 305 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,400 in the last five years. 306 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,360 And the world's second largest consumer of them is the UK. 307 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:47,160 Glass wipes, bathroom wipes, facial cleansing wipes, car wipes! 308 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,000 Toddler wipes, anti-disinfectant, multi-surface, 309 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,080 antibacterial, leather cleaning wipe. 310 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,400 Where there's a market, there's a wipe. 311 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:59,800 We're now spending almost half a billion pounds a year on wipes. 312 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,520 These have to be my favourite, deep-cleaning teeth wipe. 313 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,640 How do you even use one of these things? 314 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,280 Is that it? Or is it that way? 315 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,560 I don't know. And then what do you do? 316 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,680 It's quite refreshing. 317 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,880 No, teeth wipe, no! 318 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:20,920 We've gone mad. Completely mad! 319 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,840 I've brought my wet wipe haul to a good old-fashioned car-boot sale 320 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,640 in Cardiff. 321 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,560 Morning. 322 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,720 I want to ask people about the information we're given 323 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,400 detailing what wipes are really made of. 324 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,200 But first, why do we buy so many of them? 325 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,600 What's you name? Hilary. 326 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,000 Hilary, nice to meet you, Hilary. 327 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,200 Do you use wipes? Nappy wipes. 328 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:53,720 For my baby grandson. 329 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,400 I use wipes to clean my utensils in my house. I use wipes 330 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:58,920 to clean my cars. 331 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,160 I use wipes for everything. Do you? Floor wipes. 332 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,320 Kitchen? Oh, yes. Bathroom? Yeah. 333 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,640 Toilets? Yeah. If it makes my house look good, then, I'll use them. 334 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,840 Ear and eye wipes for your dog. 335 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,120 There you are, how's that? 336 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:13,960 There's a good girl. 337 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,840 My bin, by the end of the day, 338 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,160 I will be honest, it's usually full of wet wipes. 339 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,120 What if I were to tell you 90% of the wipes that you can buy 340 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,200 in Britain have plastic in them? 341 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,000 No way. 342 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,080 Really? Plastic in them? 343 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:31,280 That's insane. 344 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:32,720 Oh, my God. 345 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,160 I'm shocked. What do I have to do, you know? 346 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,080 To continue to use it for my children or I'll have to stop. 347 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,400 This is the dilemma. 348 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,480 It's not labelled, at all? On... Go on, have a look. See what you think. 349 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,800 I got the ingredients here, but there's not a mention of plastic! 350 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,520 Or anything that you can really understand, right? No, no. 351 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,240 As my car-boot sale visitors are discovering, the ingredients only 352 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,400 say what's being put ON the wipes. 353 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,240 Nowhere does it list all the components that make 354 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,240 up the wipes themselves. 355 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,280 I'm surprised that the big companies aren't doing more. 356 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,200 I think the public needs be more educated. 357 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:12,720 They should have it on there. 358 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,000 They're trying to cut the plastic out. 359 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,280 Quite rightly, people are saying that the companies have a duty 360 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,160 to tell us what's in them. 361 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,400 This is about letting us make an informed decision 362 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,440 and we can only make an informed choice about what we want to buy, 363 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:31,800 if you tell us the truth about what we're buying. 364 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,120 And at the moment, we have no idea. 365 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,480 I decide to look a bit deeper into who's making these wipes 366 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,360 and discover three of the leading manufacturers keen to point out 367 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,720 their environmental credentials and that they adhere 368 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,760 to industry best practice. 369 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,600 They are Johnson & Johnson... 370 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:57,360 "The people of Johnson & Johnson are about changing the trajectory 371 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,720 "of health for humanity." Wow. 372 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,720 ..Procter & Gamble... 373 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,800 "We are committed to deliver eco-friendly brands that consumers 374 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,840 "can enjoy responsibly." 375 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:11,280 ..and Kimberly-Clark. 376 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,560 "We use sustainable practice that supports a healthy planet." 377 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:18,600 These contain plastic. 378 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,760 There is nothing sustainable about these. 379 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:27,080 How is this baby wipe, this facial wipe and these wipes. 380 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,680 how were they benefiting our planet? 381 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,720 How do these products go towards a healthier planet? 382 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,040 There's no consistency in the message that they're portraying 383 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,320 and the products that they're delivering. 384 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,240 And there's no nowhere on this product that tells me 385 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:45,280 it contains plastic. 386 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,920 While there's currently no legal obligation on the company's part 387 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,600 to label the plastic content, 388 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,880 I'm very interested in talking to them about how 389 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,840 they're communicating what's in their wipes to their customers. 390 00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:58,960 Don't you want to know? 391 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,280 Wouldn't you rather that they've just said, "Yeah, OK, 392 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,400 "You love a wet wipe, we make them for you, 393 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,600 "by the way, they've got plastic in them." 394 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,200 And then at least we have the choice. 395 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,840 It's taken us just 70 years 396 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,320 from the time we started mass-producing plastic 397 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,240 to clog up our oceans with the stuff. 398 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,560 But scientists are only beginning to understand the scale 399 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,120 of the problem. 400 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,920 And what they're telling us is that plastics 401 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,360 do not degrade harmlessly. 402 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,640 They break up into ever-smaller pieces. 403 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,480 These microplastics are poisoning the natural world. 404 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,600 Getting into the bodies of marine creatures 405 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,000 and entering the food chain. 406 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,640 And it's now emerging that one particular type of microplastic 407 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,040 is being pumped out of almost all our homes, 408 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:06,760 day after day. 409 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:18,000 So, this is where all of the washing happens. 410 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,880 It's our first washing lab. 411 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,920 I've brought this polyester fleece with me. 412 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,800 Fantastic. I've had it for a couple of years. 413 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,240 I don't wear it massively often, but it's probably had two 414 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,000 or three washes. OK. 415 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,320 Marine scientist Imogen Napper, at Plymouth University, has spent 416 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:37,320 months washing different synthetic clothes to measure how many 417 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,480 fibres are released. 418 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,240 Imogen, what's actually happening to these fabrics and their fibres 419 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,040 during the wash? When they're swishing and swirling 420 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,400 around the water, fibres can detach from our clothes and go 421 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,000 into the waste water. 422 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,640 But today our mesh is going to capture any fibres? 423 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,240 Exactly, so we can analyse them later. 424 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,040 Two-thirds of the clothes we buy contain plastic. 425 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:10,160 A 100% polyester fleece like mine is, quite simply, 100% plastic. 426 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,400 An acrylic sweater is also plastic. 427 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,600 And a T-shirt made from a polyester-cotton blend is partly, 428 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,080 you guessed it, plastic. 429 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,600 But what happens to all this plastic when we wash it? 430 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,400 Imogen and I start by looking at what's come off 431 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,040 my polyester fleece. 432 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:35,960 Definitely see some stuff. 433 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,040 Mm, you see the fluff in the tube itself. 434 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,720 If we just rest that there. 435 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,680 Some of that's actually come around the edges of...oh, my goodness. 436 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,920 So, quite a lot. 437 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,680 And 100% plastic. 438 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,600 At the moment, there's nothing in the washing machine that's stopping 439 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,240 these fibres going down the drain. 440 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,320 Now, I must admit, I am feeling kind of ashamed. 441 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,920 Just unleashing that sort of mess of plastic fibre. 442 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,680 For a typical wash load of acrylic clothing, 443 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,200 which is about 6kg, up to 700,000 fibres can come 444 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,400 off our clothes and go down the drain. 445 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,880 That's well on the way to a million fibres from a single wash. 446 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,960 Then you just start to extrapolate wash after wash, street after street, 447 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,840 cities, nations, the whole world. 448 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,840 Billions and billions of fibres going out down the drain. 449 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,080 Day in, day out. 450 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:29,840 This doesn't necessarily mean we should stop buying synthetic clothes. 451 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,480 Cotton and wool also have their environmental problems. 452 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,160 Long term, the solution probably lies in better fabrics, 453 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,240 designed specifically to shed fewer fibres. 454 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,800 But right now, doing our laundry on shorter washes and less often 455 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,760 can help reduce what we're sending down our drains. 456 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,440 To find out where the fibres we're shedding end up, 457 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,840 I talked to the head of the university lab, who first coined 458 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,400 the term "microplastics", Professor Richard Thompson. 459 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,800 We're finding plastic fibres at the sea surface. 460 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,880 We're even finding them in the deep sea, thousands of meters down. 461 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,560 We found them in cores of Arctic sea ice and we're finding them 462 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,440 in the guts of marine organisms. 463 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,520 We know that other types of microplastic, 464 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,640 typically the more spherical pieces, 465 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,680 have the potential to cause harm in some marine invertebrates. 466 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,400 There's every suggestion that fibres are more likely to cause 467 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,080 entanglement, obstruction in the guts, possibly. 468 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,040 So, to me, there's a warning signal here. 469 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,560 So, if they're in the guts of marine organisms, 470 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,800 we eat marine organisms, 471 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,880 in my case, quite enthusiastically, 472 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,800 should I be worried about the impact on human health? 473 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,840 To me, it's a cause for concern today. 474 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,760 But I would be more worried about your exposure from the air 475 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,360 around you, from particles falling on your dinner plate 476 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:50,200 while you're preparing your food, 477 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,040 the quantities are likely to be far greater than the quantities 478 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,160 that are coming back onto your dinner plate 479 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:56,440 from the fish in the sea. 480 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,760 Hang on a moment. 481 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,280 There's plastic in the air around us? 482 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,920 How is it getting there? 483 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:08,360 And where from? 484 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,520 Richard directs me to some cutting-edge research 485 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,440 being carried out on the rooftops of King's College, 486 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,920 London, by Dr Stephanie Wright. 487 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,720 Good morning, Stephanie. 488 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,800 Hi, Hugh. How are you? Fine, thanks. How are you? 489 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:24,280 Yeah, good. Great. 490 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,040 I like your laboratory. 491 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:27,400 It's nice, isn't it? 492 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,720 It's nice in nice weather. 493 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,360 Stephanie and her team have been putting a rain gauge 494 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:34,640 to a novel use. 495 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,760 We are interested in microplastics. 496 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,920 So, dust that settles naturally out of the atmosphere, 497 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,040 or with rainfall, gets caught on this surface. 498 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:45,920 And are you recording plastics in your data? 499 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,720 We find on average around 700 500 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,000 plastic fibres deposit per metre squared, per day. 501 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,080 Which doesn't... Sounds like quite a lot. It does. 502 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,880 And if we can calculate that up to the just the City 503 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,280 of London borough, that's the equivalent of over two billion 504 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,160 plastic fibres each day. 505 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,440 So, if we stuck a hoop over the City of London over there, 506 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:09,840 two billion tiny plastic particles 507 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,160 settling there every day? It's a surprise, 508 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,600 because you can't see them. 509 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,040 But the moment you filter a sample and get under the microscope, 510 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,320 and you see lots of particles. 511 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,280 We found over eight different types of plastics in our samples. 512 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,040 Polyacrylonitrile was the most common type. 513 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,400 What you call acrylic? Acrylic fibre. That's what this is? 514 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,880 Yes. We also commonly found polyester. 515 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,120 And where do you think these fibres are coming from? 516 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,840 We think they're coming from synthetic textiles. 517 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,240 Clothes. Clothing, definitely. 518 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,160 Polyacrylonitrile is commonly used in outdoor wear, 519 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:48,840 in outdoor textiles and canvases and yacht sails, coats. 520 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:53,080 We're actually shedding fibres, giving them up into the air. 521 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,720 That's, that's happening every day, all the time. 522 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,640 Could that be a real health worry? 523 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,240 Potentially, it all depends on how small these fibres can get 524 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,760 and if they can get to a size which could enter our airway. 525 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,200 What we know from an industrial workplace setting is that exposure 526 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:12,240 to high concentrations of plastic fibres can cause lung disease. 527 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,400 It can cause inflammation and can cause 528 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,800 breathing difficulties, wheezing. 529 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,120 But what we don't know is what exposure to low levels 530 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:24,200 over our entire lifecourse might look like. 531 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:30,120 Two billion microfibres falling every day on the square mile 532 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:31,920 of the City of London 533 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,840 feels like a pressing reason to explore the impact of long-term 534 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,520 exposure on our bodies. 535 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,240 I think I now have a new and rather alarming perspective 536 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,560 on these tiny plastic particles. 537 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,480 I've thought about them and worried about them in the sea. 538 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,000 And now I've just discovered they're everywhere, 539 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,960 they're in the air all around us. 540 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,760 And now just looking around at everybody who's wearing 541 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,080 synthetic fibres. Well, we're all potentially just shedding 542 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,960 these fibres into the air all the time, everywhere we go. 543 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:09,080 They're, sort of, raining down invisible all around us. 544 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,760 To get a clearer picture of what could be happening, I offered 545 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:21,480 to help with the latest research into these airborne plastics. 546 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,440 The King's College, London team have given me some state of the art 547 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,600 sampling kit to bring to the street in Bristol. 548 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:32,960 Hello, Caroline. Hi, come in. 549 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:34,640 That looks pretty heavy. 550 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,280 It is heavy. 551 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,120 Simon and Caroline are the latest recruits in a ground-breaking 552 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,880 experiment to test the air for the level of microplastics 553 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:45,760 within our homes. 554 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,480 This is the first time an experiment has been done to measure these tiny 555 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,480 plastic microfibres. 556 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,840 So, what we're breathing into our bodies? To find out how much 557 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,200 we're breathing in, to find out just how present they are in our lives 558 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,680 and what the consequences of that could be. Yeah. 559 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,520 The sampling filter can trap particulates so small 560 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,280 that they could be breathed deep into our lungs, 561 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,400 where it's more difficult for the body to get rid of them. 562 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:11,760 FILTER VIBRATES 563 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,480 All right, it's wheezing. 564 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,360 Let's see if we can make it a bit quieter for you. 565 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:17,400 Yeah, soundproof, they said. 566 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:18,600 Oh, wow. 567 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,040 Not as loud as I was expecting it to be, which is great. 568 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,480 Well, maybe it's not massively annoying in your kitchen, 569 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:25,520 but I have got another question for you. Oh, right. 570 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,440 I mean, I'd be quite interested to know what the microfibre situation 571 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:30,840 is while you're asleep. 572 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,080 OK. OK. Yeah. All right. 573 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,760 It's a nice replacement for your snoring. 574 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:35,960 Oh, really? Yeah. 575 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,760 So, you're used to these kind of noises! 576 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,000 I do suck a lot of microfibres up. 577 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,440 Well, it's very sporting of you. 578 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,480 Time to measure the fibres in your life. 579 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,680 Next-door neighbours Saskie and Ezra 580 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,560 have also agreed to take part in the experiment. 581 00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:59,720 And then we'll have to see what we've caught. 582 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,760 Sounds like a cat. 583 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,400 At the end of three days, the collection cassettes will be sent 584 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,760 back to the lab at King's College for analysis. 585 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,640 Goodnight, Ez. Goodnight. 586 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,840 See you in the morning. See you in the morning. 587 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,800 While Saskie and Ezra wait to find out if plastic particles are present 588 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:24,840 in the air they're breathing, 589 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,440 there's one hidden plastic that they have managed to get rid of. 590 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,240 So, Ez, do you wash your own face now? 591 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:32,800 Uh-huh. 592 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,600 And what do you use? 593 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,880 Flannel. 594 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,960 And Ezra's not the only one to ditch the wipes. 595 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,800 I've got one more wipe left to go. 596 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,360 I cannot, in any sense, use a wipe now, 597 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,920 having seen that white mountain thing. 598 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,480 I have never considered about them having 599 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,520 plastic in. It's cliche, isn't it? 600 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,320 But knowledge is power. 601 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,960 Imagine if we all had this knowledge about wipes. 602 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,120 That could really make a difference to the amount of plastic 603 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,680 we're throwing away. 604 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,360 Despite going back and forth on e-mail with the three leading 605 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,840 companies over the last ten weeks, they haven't agreed to meet me 606 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,240 to talk about labelling their wipes to say they contain plastic. 607 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,520 But I have discovered that an upcoming piece of European 608 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,200 legislation means they'll have to state this on the pack 609 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,360 in around two years' time. 610 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:37,280 Even if the UK is no longer in the EU by then. 611 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:38,640 It's brilliant. 612 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,760 The only problem is, by the time this has come into play, let's say 613 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:48,680 it's two years, we will have used another 22 billion wet wipes. 614 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,880 It's a mind-boggling amount. 615 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,600 So, I wrote to the wet wipe companies again asking, 616 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:58,280 "Will you do the right thing and immediately add labels to your packs?" 617 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,960 Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark acknowledged 618 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,280 they will fall in line with EU legislation once it's finalised, 619 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,840 but this is unlikely to be before summer 2021. 620 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,680 Johnson & Johnson's response is slightly different. 621 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,840 "We will implement these as soon as the final label format 622 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,160 "is confirmed by legislators." 623 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,880 They think that's April 2020. 624 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:25,200 But none of them have committed to putting a label on the pack now. 625 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,680 I know customers want this information and as they won't 626 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:32,640 meet me, I'm going to have to think of a way of asking the question 627 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:34,400 they can't avoid. 628 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,440 Back on the street, Anna's been inspired by her change with wipes 629 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:45,720 to find even more ways to stop adding new plastic to the bathroom. 630 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:47,800 I, kind of, put this post out there. 631 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,840 Make all natural cleaning bits and bobs. 632 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,680 Some people are saying that they're definitely up 633 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:54,160 for a little gathering. 634 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,280 Cup of tea, few biscuits, have a natter, make some toilet bombs. 635 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,320 Joining Anna to see if they can bring some plastic-free dazzle 636 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:12,480 to their bathrooms are Dan, Jodie and Saskie. 637 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,880 Their first task is to create a household spray cleaner. 638 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:21,200 Has everybody got an empty bottle of some sort? Yeah. 639 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:26,000 Fill an old trigger bottle with half vinegar, half water. 640 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,720 Add the peel of lemons or oranges... 641 00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:31,960 ..followed by a sprinkling of bicarbonate of soda... 642 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,960 Our grandparents' generation would have used these same things. 643 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,760 Totally. It's just knowledge that we've lost. 644 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,480 ..and a vigorous shake. 645 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,160 It's cheap, as well. It is, yeah. 646 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,200 But will the spray bring out the sparkle? 647 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,240 Let's see, all those little bits of grime are coming off. 648 00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:49,960 It's shiny. 649 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,720 Have a general clean while I'm here. 650 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,480 I'm quite pleased with that. 651 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,920 The next challenge is to make an explosively effective cleaner 652 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:05,840 for the toilets. 653 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,600 Some fizzy toilet bombs. 654 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,760 First, choose some scented oil. 655 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,320 Making sure it's from a sustainable source. 656 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:13,360 Ahh. 657 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,880 Then mix one and a third cups of baking soda with half a cup 658 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,880 of citric acid and slowly add water, scented with the oil. 659 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:31,760 Mould into small balls and fit them into a silicon ice tray. 660 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:34,720 It's going to fizz! It's going to clean my toilet. 661 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:39,280 But will these little bath bombs blitz the bowl? 662 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:40,960 There we go. 663 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:47,200 It doesn't look like it's doing quite what we expected. 664 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,840 It took a little while to make these and... 665 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,600 ..I probably wouldn't bother again. 666 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:57,160 For those unconvinced by the handmade route to plastic reduction, 667 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,400 there are a few simpler bathroom swaps 668 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,200 you could try at home. 669 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:07,480 A plastic toothbrush can be replaced by one made of bamboo. 670 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,440 Instead of disposable razors, 671 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,480 you could use a metal one. 672 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:16,400 And shampoo and conditioner is also available in bar form. 673 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:24,720 When it comes to the single-use plastics we can't do without, 674 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:27,720 how do we make sure that our recycling system can deal 675 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,240 with them properly? 676 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:32,960 I'm still waiting to talk about that with the Secretary 677 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,960 of State for the Environment, Michael Gove. 678 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,160 But when I'm asked to speak at a high-profile event about waste, 679 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:43,800 there's an unexpected bonus. 680 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,080 One of the other speakers? Michael Gove. 681 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,840 So, when I'm on stage today he'll be in the audience. 682 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,680 That's an opportunity not to be missed. 683 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,120 The Waste to Wealth summit is being hosted by one of the 684 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,120 Prince of Wales' charities, Business in the Community. 685 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:10,680 We are the first generation to know that we are destroying the world. 686 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,880 And the last that can do anything about it. 687 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:20,840 Michael Gove is currently preparing a new waste and resources strategy, 688 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:25,600 which I'm hoping he'll be using to fix our broken recycling system. 689 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,440 Please welcome Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. 690 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,520 And he's in the front row, just where I want him. 691 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:34,800 Hugh, I mean, what's your perspective, 692 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,320 from a consumer's standpoint, on what's going on now? 693 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,080 Only a few weeks ago I was in Malaysia, 694 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,800 on illegal dump sites, sometimes the size of two or three 695 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:50,400 football pitches, with plastic waste piled in bales. 696 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,000 And it's certainly not the outcome that people are hoping for, 697 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,960 when they feel that they're doing the right thing 698 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,960 and putting their plastic recycling where they're told to put it. 699 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,040 Can I just say that I'm delighted to see the Secretary 700 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:04,360 of State here today. 701 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,400 We felt we almost lost him last week to Brexit. 702 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,120 I'm very much hoping that one of the reasons he's with us today 703 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,840 is perhaps with a sense of unfinished business 704 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,480 on this massive issue of waste. 705 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,520 I've got some of my message across, but at the post-event mingle, 706 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:25,920 I want to pin the Secretary of State down about our meeting 707 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:28,000 to discuss the issue properly. 708 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,880 Very nice to see you. Very good to see you. 709 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,720 I hope that what we can do in the waste and resources strategy 710 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:38,520 will go at least some of the way to making you think that the government 711 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:39,880 is taking this seriously. 712 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,240 And as I say, I wouldn't expect you to, to, sort of, plant 713 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:44,720 an endorsement on it, 714 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:48,360 but, but your challenge is so important and thank you. 715 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:49,640 Well, thanks very much. 716 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,040 I mean, what I would really love and I'm hearing noises that you're up 717 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:57,040 for a proper sit-down chat about it sometime... Definitely. Oh, absolutely. ..soon, because that's 718 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:00,240 where we get to hear how the actions will match the rhetoric. 719 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:04,120 So, I think we can say the meeting's in the bag. 720 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,080 But before that happens, I want to understand 721 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:11,520 how our recycling system is allowing thousands of tonnes of our plastic 722 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:15,040 to cause serious problems on the other side of the world. 723 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:19,000 So, I've been pressing the councils whose bags I found in Malaysia 724 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:20,680 for answers. 725 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,560 I have now heard back from Rhondda council, 726 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,880 that they've been consulting with their exporter, Lovell Recycling, 727 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:31,920 who has confirmed that all materials have followed the correct procedure 728 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,480 and that they're unaware how the material 729 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:39,040 could have been found without being processed. 730 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,080 The council also says that they no longer use this company 731 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:48,000 and that since the end of May 2018, they haven't exported any waste 732 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,120 materials outside of the EU. 733 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,440 Milton Keynes tell me they "have confidence in their supply chain" 734 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:58,360 and believe their sacks did not come from their 735 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,280 own materials disposal. 736 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:06,320 And Braintree say that before May 2018 they were exporting bags 737 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:10,200 to Malaysia, where they believed they were correctly processed. 738 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:14,680 But none of this really stacks up with what I saw in Malaysia. 739 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,920 In one way or another, they're all saying, "Well, we followed 740 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,120 "the procedure, we did what we're meant to do." 741 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,920 And I can see that if these councils are just allowed to fill 742 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:28,360 in the forms and send their stuff off, it isn't really their fault. 743 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,160 The system is wrong. 744 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:35,440 So, how do you fix the system so that we can all be confident 745 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:40,400 that when we put out our recycling, it all actually gets recycled? 746 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,080 And who should be paying for that to happen? 747 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,360 Our cash strapped councils or the companies churning out 748 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,400 the plastic in the first place. 749 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,880 I have come to talk to Head of Technology and Innovation at waste 750 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,480 management company Veolia, Richard Kirkman. 751 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,160 So, if you think about making products, everyone understands 752 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,360 there's a cost to make it, not so many people think about the cost 753 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:02,520 to de-make it. 754 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,600 So, we're talking... To recover it and to recycle. To recover it and to recycle it has, 755 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,080 you know, costs associated to it. 756 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,880 Manufacturers today are only paying 10% of that, local authorities 757 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:10,920 are paying the rest. 758 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,560 So, if you put the cost in the hands of the people that make it, 759 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:17,080 they will redesign things like this, so that they're easier 760 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,120 to recycle, because it's their cost if they're not recycled. 761 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:24,040 So, this is a big shift in incentive, so that producers... 762 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,560 ..it really is in their interest to do everything they can to make 763 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:28,800 something easily recyclable. 764 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,160 Yeah, the big things that we need to do are change the packaging tax 765 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,480 to a extended producer responsibility, where they pay 766 00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:39,280 the full costs. The full cost? So, 100%. 100%. 767 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,200 And that cost will also be passed on to consumers. 768 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,440 The producers aren't going to just take that hit. 769 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:45,280 But as a consumer, you will have some choice, 770 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:47,000 to buy more or less packaging. 771 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,520 To buy reusable coffee cup or reusable water bottle, 772 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:51,320 rather than buy new things. 773 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,920 If the government puts everything in place that you're hoping for, 774 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:59,240 does this mean there should be no reason to export low-grade plastics 775 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:03,280 outside of the UK, where they could end up in places like Malaysia 776 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:04,760 who just can't cope with them? 777 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,520 If we're exporting waste which are disposed of irresponsibly, 778 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:09,840 that's not acceptable and that will shut down, 779 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:11,680 I really believe it will. 780 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:17,320 I can see that if companies were made responsible for 100% 781 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,560 of the cost of recycling their plastic packaging, 782 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,720 that would really focus their minds. 783 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:26,160 The big question here is has the Secretary of State 784 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:27,800 got his head around it? 785 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,560 Is he prepared to do what's necessary? 786 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:35,360 Finally, the day of our meeting is here 787 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,880 and I have the chance to ask just that. 788 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:43,440 Hi, Hugh. 789 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,160 Good morning. How are you? Welcome to DEFRA. 790 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:46,280 Very nice to see you. 791 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:48,640 And I haven't come empty handed. 792 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,480 This is just a tiny sample... 793 00:42:54,800 --> 00:43:00,320 ..of plastic waste... Yes. ..that I found in Malaysia, from the UK. 794 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:04,800 And... Yes, that's terrible. ..for the context, 795 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,080 to see some of the images we brought back. 796 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:10,960 And you can take that and just scroll through. Yes, of course. 797 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:14,840 These sites are generally illegal. On many of them there's 798 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:19,080 very little indication that any of the material will be ever recycled. 799 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,720 What would UK taxpayers think if they knew that their best efforts 800 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:25,560 at recycling were ending up in that sort of scenario? 801 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:27,960 Well, as a UK taxpayer myself, I think it's horrendous 802 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,800 and I think that's why we need change. 803 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:34,840 Companies, retailers who produce a lot of plastic waste and packaging 804 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:40,040 are paying 10% of the cost of clearing up and recycling. 805 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,640 What do you think should be an appropriate amount for them to pay? 806 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,320 I think the producers should pay as much as possible. Consistent 807 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:51,400 with making sure that we can maintain the recycling capacity 808 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,920 and invest in the recycling capacity that we need. 809 00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:55,800 Merely to keep step in Europe, 810 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,600 do you know what the obligations should be? How much of a percentage? 811 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:02,400 I would think that it would be easily more than 50. 812 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:04,040 But you don't know the figure? No. 813 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:07,920 I mean, you've hazarded a slightly random 50%... Above 50%. 814 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,640 ..it's a bit of a, bit of a hedging of bets. 815 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,600 Yes. Were we to continue... Well, quite. ..in Europe, 816 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:17,960 there would be an obligation to pay 80%. Mm. 817 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,640 Yes. But, but also there are a lot of people saying 818 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,760 that that responsibility belongs entirely to producers and retailers 819 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,200 and that they should pay 100%. 820 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,680 I absolutely accept the case and I think that you'd... 821 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:29,200 You accept the case for 100%? 822 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,760 I accept the case that they should pay more, absolutely. 823 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:35,760 I want to make sure that industry, on the principle, the polluter should pay, 824 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,640 takes a heavier share of the responsibility for making sure... 825 00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:41,960 Heavier... ..we deal with this material. ..heavier would be 12%, at the moment, wouldn't it? 826 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:44,240 Yes, but... Not massive improvement. 827 00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:46,360 ..heavier would be 10.5, 828 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,320 but we're not talking about, that we're talking about making sure 829 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,520 that we proceed in a way so that producers, 830 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:54,880 those who are responsible for generating this waste, 831 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:56,480 take greater responsibility. 832 00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:00,440 You and other campaigners have done this country a service by shining 833 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:03,560 a light on a situation which is, frankly, indefensible.... That's very kind of you, 834 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,320 Minister, but we're now waiting for you to do this country a service. 835 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:10,920 ..no, I agree. The ball is really in your court. I understand. 836 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,360 It remains to be seen whether the minister really has the guts 837 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,480 and the gumption to push through recycling reform 838 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:20,160 that will make a real difference. 839 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:23,680 The good news is that he's agreed to see me again, 840 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:26,280 so I can keep piling on the pressure. 841 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:31,960 The street in Bristol are three-quarters of the way 842 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,640 through their four- month experiment to reduce the single-use plastic 843 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:37,360 in their lives. 844 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:40,680 And in the last month, residents have found different ways 845 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:43,640 to reduce the plastic in their bathrooms. 846 00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,120 I bought thi big jar of coconut oil and I've been using 847 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,880 this and it's a moisturizer. 848 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:50,600 Kind of, changed my mind-set. 849 00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:55,440 The deli up the road has started doing shampoo, body wash. 850 00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,960 We're saving money by coming to do the refills 851 00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:02,160 and actually these are changes that I can work... 852 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:03,920 ..into my week. 853 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:08,160 That whole side of the bath was covered in plastic bottles. 854 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:12,480 Stuff that we weren't really using, as well. Just stuff. 855 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:14,440 The most dramatic change on the street 856 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:18,440 has been after they learnt a simple fact about a hidden plastic. 857 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:20,680 Used the last of my wet wipes. 858 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,400 We are now a wipe-free house. 859 00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,720 If only we were all as well-informed as the street. 860 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:33,640 As the wet wipe companies won't meet me to explain why 861 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:36,080 they can't put a label on their packs now, 862 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:40,600 my last hope is to turn up at their UK headquarters myself. 863 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:43,240 I want to engage with them. 864 00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:46,680 I want them to tell me why they don't want to do anything immediately. 865 00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:49,560 So, I've asked the designer to come up with something 866 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:52,400 that might be a little bit harder for them to ignore. 867 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,280 I don't really know what to expect. 868 00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:59,040 What is that?! 869 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,720 # A change, it had to come... # 870 00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:07,800 Wipes contain plastic. 871 00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:11,520 Oh, my God! That's amazing. 872 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,520 Wiping the baby's backside with a plastic bag. 873 00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:18,240 Wow that's really shocking, actually, 874 00:47:18,240 --> 00:47:20,520 when you look at it like that. 875 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:22,480 # Take a bow for the new revolution 876 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:24,680 # Smile and grin at the change... # 877 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:28,040 Why can't you come clean and stick it on the pack now? 878 00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:30,880 Someone's going to have to come and talk to me, aren't they? 879 00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:32,760 They can't ignore that. 880 00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:34,400 Let's take it to them! 881 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:36,920 # Get on my knees and pray... # 882 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:40,200 ANITA LAUGHS 883 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,600 # We don't get fooled again. # 884 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,880 I want to take my ad van to Procter & Gamble, 885 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:50,560 Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark. 886 00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:53,720 Surely they can't turn me away if I rock up in this. 887 00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:59,320 So, we're heading in now to Procter & Gamble. 888 00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:03,240 In that building is somebody who can answer my questions. 889 00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:09,480 Let's get noticed, shall we? 890 00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:15,920 I've also brought along a couple of the P & G brands, 891 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,800 with a little added extra to show that changing their labelling 892 00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:22,000 really isn't that hard. 893 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:26,560 I've managed to get some suggested ideas knocked up very quickly, 894 00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:27,720 couple of days, in fact. 895 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:29,920 I've got a camera on, because I'm not going to take 896 00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,280 you guys with me, you're going to stay put in the car. 897 00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:33,680 Here's my microphone. 898 00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:34,920 Right, wish me luck. 899 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:44,240 Hello, there. I was wondering if somebody was available 900 00:48:44,240 --> 00:48:45,360 to talk to me today. 901 00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,720 Have you got an appointment? I've got no appointment, 902 00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:50,400 but I've come a long way to talk to them. 903 00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:53,880 Yes, that's my van. 904 00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,400 Yeah. 905 00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:07,120 No-one would speak to me on camera to answer my question about why 906 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:10,000 they can't change their labelling now. 907 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:16,560 Perhaps I'll have better luck at Johnson & Johnson. 908 00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:19,960 Just pull up in here, I think. 909 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,240 Morning, I've been e-mailing about the labelling 910 00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:29,760 on your wet wipe packaging. 911 00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:32,080 I've got a list of names here. Have you spoken to these already? 912 00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:34,000 No, I haven't. I would like to speak to them. 913 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:35,320 Thank you. PHONE RINGS 914 00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:38,800 Hi, there. Hi, What's your name? 915 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,680 Melissa, nice to meet you. Melissa, what department are you in? Legal. 916 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:42,920 Legal, excellent. 917 00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:46,960 The simple question is, why not just put "wet wipes contain plastic" 918 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:48,320 on your packaging right now? 919 00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:50,600 Unfortunately, there's no-one here to speak to you right now. 920 00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:54,000 Yeah. But, pass on your details to our media team and ask them to get 921 00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:56,600 in contact with you. Yeah, even better, the person who actually 922 00:49:56,600 --> 00:49:58,600 deals with packaging would be fantastic. 923 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:00,480 I'm going to leave you with these. 924 00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,880 Put some stickers on, to say that wet wipes contain plastic. 925 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:06,520 You know, it's not that difficult. 926 00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:16,200 The companies won't give me an answer to my question on e-mail, 927 00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:18,640 they won't talk to me when I turn up in my van. 928 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:20,880 I mean, what's a girl got to do? 929 00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:25,160 When I stopped for a cuppa, I'm after a bit of moral support. 930 00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:26,320 I think people need to know. 931 00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:29,080 But they're not going to do anything for at least a year. 932 00:50:29,080 --> 00:50:31,080 Doesn't make sense, does it? Be honest! 933 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:32,320 That's all. 934 00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:35,120 Why do you need a year or two? Do it now. 935 00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:40,000 How much, how much of a problem is it going to be to actually 936 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:41,200 put an extra bit on a label? 937 00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:43,400 Totally agree! Yeah. 938 00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:46,000 Thank you, Stephanie. You've boosted me. Good! 939 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,960 I will go and tell them exactly that, then. 940 00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:49,240 Good! You should. 941 00:50:49,240 --> 00:50:51,760 All the best. Bye, now. 942 00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,320 It's time for the last HQ of the day. 943 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:56,640 Kimberly-Clark, I'm on my way. 944 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:03,200 Fliers, check. 945 00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:04,320 Camera, check. 946 00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:05,840 Microphone, check. 947 00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:08,520 List of names, check. And Huggies, check. 948 00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:10,320 Rush hour, check. 949 00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:13,600 Let's see if we can get some answers out of Kimberly-Clark. 950 00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:19,680 Hello, there. I have been e-mailing your press office 951 00:51:19,680 --> 00:51:22,560 and I was wondering if there was anybody around to talk to me 952 00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:24,120 about wet wipes. 953 00:51:24,120 --> 00:51:27,000 I've got a list of names here, Marketing Director 954 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:29,600 and Marketing Manager, Head of Packaging. OK. 955 00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:32,440 President of Consumer Business, 956 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:35,240 Environment and Sustainability Leader. I'm just checking. 957 00:51:35,240 --> 00:51:38,800 UK Manufacturing Director, Head of Media? 958 00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:40,240 Not available. 959 00:51:40,240 --> 00:51:42,360 Head of Packaging would be great. 960 00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:45,440 That's my instruction, is to get you to e-mail. 961 00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:50,080 I've done that, I've been doing it for three months. 962 00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:51,200 Hello, there. 963 00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:53,160 Simon Ashwell. From what department? 964 00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:54,720 Um, from our legal team. 965 00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:56,680 O. Hello, I'm Stuart. Hello, Stuart. Hello. 966 00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:59,680 It's a BBC series about plastic and we're looking at the labelling 967 00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:02,560 of wet wipes and we know that you're aware of legislation, 968 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:05,440 and we've been told that you will just wait to see what happens 969 00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:07,280 before you start labelling things. 970 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,880 I mean, all I want to know is why you can't just do it now? 971 00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:12,360 So, I've got flyers made up of my van. 972 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:14,480 I'm going to leave those, as well, and the wet wipes. 973 00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:16,920 And it's about having a conversation. Yes, I understand. 974 00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:18,960 From our press office. Yes. Can they have a quick word? 975 00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:20,320 Yes, absolutely. 976 00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:22,360 Hello, there. 977 00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:24,920 Anita Rani, we're making a programme about plastic. 978 00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:29,200 Would you be able to put someone forward for an interview? 979 00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:31,600 Could we get that organised? 980 00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:37,160 The press office say they will look into arranging an interview. 981 00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:40,480 Thank you so much. Press office and two of the legal team. 982 00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:41,920 That's it. Come on, you can tell me. 983 00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:43,760 You're waiting for legislation, come on. 984 00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:46,280 She's going to give you a call, she's told you that. 985 00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:49,440 But are you, just, can you tell me if you're having a discussion about it? 986 00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:52,400 I've said what we're going to do. All right. We've told you already. 987 00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:57,080 They know I mean business. 988 00:52:57,080 --> 00:52:59,560 I've spoken to the press team, I've been face-to-face with two 989 00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:01,560 of the lawyers, they're pretty important, aren't they? 990 00:53:01,560 --> 00:53:04,400 There's definitely people still in that building, cos the lights are on 991 00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:06,640 and I think they know I'm still sniffing around. 992 00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,120 So, Kimberly-Clark, if you're in there, 993 00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:11,920 put a label on your wipes, please! 994 00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:19,680 So, despite saying they'd look into it, when I went to see them a few 995 00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:23,560 days ago, Kimberly-Clark have refused to meet me face-to-face. 996 00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:27,160 And along with Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, all three of them 997 00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:31,520 have said that they always comply with labelling regulations. 998 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,240 But here's a question for you, 999 00:53:33,240 --> 00:53:37,080 why not do something about it right now? 1000 00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:39,320 What's stopping you? 1001 00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:43,640 So, I think, we can assume, unless it tells us to the contrary 1002 00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:48,240 somewhere on the pack, that wet wipes contain plastic. 1003 00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:54,480 A few weeks ago, two houses on our street in Bristol had samples 1004 00:53:54,480 --> 00:53:57,720 of air collected from their kitchens and bedrooms. 1005 00:53:57,720 --> 00:53:59,760 These have now been analysed 1006 00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:03,840 by toxicology researcher Joseph Levermore. 1007 00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:07,800 He's looking for plastic particles small enough to breathe deep 1008 00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:12,440 into our lungs, where they could potentially be doing damage. 1009 00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:20,520 I'm joining Saskie and Caroline and Simon to hear the results. 1010 00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:22,480 Results day. Yes. 1011 00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:24,760 This is, sort of, finding out whether, actually, 1012 00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:26,480 we were better off not knowing. 1013 00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,200 DOORBELL RINGS 1014 00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:30,920 Hey, yeah, I'm Joseph. 1015 00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:32,160 Hiya, I'm Saskie. 1016 00:54:32,160 --> 00:54:34,800 Hi, nice to meet you. Hi, Saskie. 1017 00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,320 What have you found, Joseph? 1018 00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:41,440 So, I wasn't expecting at all to find any plastics 1019 00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:44,760 within the inhalable size range, and yet we've been able 1020 00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:48,000 to find things that have the potential to be deposited 1021 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,560 within the alveoli region of the lungs, 1022 00:54:50,560 --> 00:54:54,480 which is penetrating deep into those areas of the lung. 1023 00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:56,280 And that's in both the houses? 1024 00:54:56,280 --> 00:54:58,000 Yes, in both the houses. 1025 00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:01,520 And that is the first identification of these particles 1026 00:55:01,520 --> 00:55:03,280 to be present of that composition. 1027 00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:07,080 And then, the first time that these have actually been found 1028 00:55:07,080 --> 00:55:09,480 within England, as a whole. Do you know which rooms 1029 00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:11,840 they were found, where they in all rooms or...? 1030 00:55:11,840 --> 00:55:16,640 It seems, based on this result, that because this way, 1031 00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:20,720 plastics are consistent from kitchen to bedroom, that there's a presence 1032 00:55:20,720 --> 00:55:23,720 of particles within the entire house. 1033 00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:29,960 Wow, blimey. Do you know the effects 1034 00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:32,680 the accumulation of those things are having on the human body yet? 1035 00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:34,400 For plastics, no. 1036 00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:37,800 This is the start, I would say, of quite a lot of work 1037 00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:39,120 that needs to be done. 1038 00:55:39,120 --> 00:55:42,760 It's urgent to understand the concentrations and the harm 1039 00:55:42,760 --> 00:55:44,360 that these things pose. 1040 00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:48,680 It's very early days for this research, but it feels like we need 1041 00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:51,080 to take these findings seriously. 1042 00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:55,360 We could be inhaling this stuff with every breath we take. 1043 00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,240 It's just been a surreal evening... 1044 00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:03,480 ..that sets off yet another alarm about the problems that plastic 1045 00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:05,640 is causing in our lives. 1046 00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:10,080 And this isn't next to some toxic industrial plastics dump. 1047 00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:14,400 It's in somebody's home, in a quiet street in Bristol. 1048 00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:17,080 Which is no different from any other home 1049 00:56:17,080 --> 00:56:20,000 up and down the country. 1050 00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,080 We don't know what the effect of these tiny particles 1051 00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:25,240 is on our health. 1052 00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:29,880 And to me, right now, not knowing feels pretty scary. 1053 00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:31,760 And we should be scared. 1054 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:35,080 Maybe we need to be scared, maybe only by being scared 1055 00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:38,400 for our own health, for our own lives, 1056 00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:40,880 are we going to be concerned enough 1057 00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:43,800 to actually do something about plastics. 1058 00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:56,120 Next time, I join two young girls to ask why one of the best-known 1059 00:56:56,120 --> 00:56:59,480 companies is giving away over a billion pieces 1060 00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:00,920 of plastic each year. 1061 00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:03,360 Can we just tell you what the girls are here... No. 1062 00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:05,880 ..you've not even asked us what we're here to do yet. 1063 00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:08,280 I have never in my life experienced anything like that. 1064 00:57:08,280 --> 00:57:12,800 While I head to the beating heart of the UK's plastics industry. 1065 00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:14,800 We'd be using the same sort of power as say, 1066 00:57:14,800 --> 00:57:18,480 three major Scottish cities. Combined? Combined, yeah. 1067 00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:21,160 And the end of the big street experiment reveals 1068 00:57:21,160 --> 00:57:26,120 whether it's really possible to reduce the plastic in our lives. 1069 00:57:26,120 --> 00:57:28,240 The figure today... 1070 00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:30,040 ..is...