Work with businesses

Getting as much unnecessary plastic as possible out of the waste stream is a big priority of this plan, and NLWA is committed to processing plastic waste in the UK. We will work with residents to ensure there is an understanding of the journey of waste that is collected in north London and opportunities to reduce it. Calling on central government to introduce a 50p charge on coffee cups, a ban on other single-use plastics, bring forward the extended producer responsibility legislation for packaging, and implement a deposit return scheme are key to supporting our aims.

The everyday choices made by consumers are an important part of tackling waste and reducing the amount of unnecessary plastic they have to dispose of. We will work with north London businesses through an evidence-led behaviour change intervention to encourage their customers to use reusable alternatives to single-use plastics. The intervention based on the Behaviour Change Wheel will demonstrate expected behaviours, feature community members (a credible source of influence), educate the public on the environmental consequences of single-use plastics, generate commitments to reuse and refill, and ask businesses to display behaviour related messaging and prompts in their premises. The evaluation of the intervention will robustly measure behaviour change, working with businesses to help us do so, and with a view to scale up if successful.