London Environment Strategy consultation

The Mayor needs to show leadership and take ambitious action to prevent single use plastic in London.

I fully support the campaign asks and justification of Water for London to install water refill points across the TfL network - creating a refill culture with easily accessible, well signposted water points at every station backed by a public marketing campaign. Where these have already been installed (Hammersmith, Embankment pier etc.) they are popular and successfully prevent plastic being used - build it and they will come!

We really need to focus on reducing the plastic waste in the first place. Companies should provide only re-useable cups, and people can either keep them to re-sue, or hand them back in for a deposit return.
Recycling is a lesser part of the solution, we need to prevent the single use plastic in the first place.
and we need infrastructure of water-fountains/refill points across the city.

I would like to see the Mayor provide more water refill points - to lead by example. I support the @WaterforLondon campaign to put refill points/water fountains in all Transport for London stations.

A public water refill network in London, based around tube, train and bus stations - as well as key walking & cycling routes - would have environmental (less plastic use, less litter), health (access to public water to support wellbeing in summer heat and anti-obesity drives) and financial (less money spent buying and clearing up plastic) benefits - a win, win, win scenario for Londoners.

Here's to your Leadership Sadiq!

We need to look beyond retailers to what the Mayor can control personally. I am really behind the idea of water refill points in TfL stations. We need a dramatic change in infastructure to make it normal to carry a refillable water bottle and I think this would help a lot

Retailers should just less for coffee when you provide your own cup.
Cups should be completely recyclable.
There should be water fountains at every station, in every park, square, shopping centre etc. so people can refill water bottles.
Water should be in bottles not plastic, and should have a meaningfull returnable deposit

Hello. I'd like to see disposable coffee cups simply banned. From what I've read and seen on TV the coffee chains aren't motivated to find an alternative solution so by banning the cups they'd be forced to invest in cups that can be recycled or by putting more focus on reusable cups. I also try to avoid sugar and don't think its right that such an addictive substance is so easily available. Again could we not just ban food and drinks with more than 5% fructose sugar? Levels above that make the product addictive.

I keep a cup at work for coffee and tea and now I try to use my own forks, etc for lunch having read what an issue disposable cutlery is too. Its hard to remember to have it with you though.

There is no problem in Germany recycling plastic bottles and metal cans. Aldi and Lidl and most other supermarkets over there have machines that receive the empties, scan them and refund the deposit as a voucher so that it can be taken off the next shopping bill. Also people can be seen picking up any discarded bottles as they can claim the refund on them too. Every little helps!

Why can't coffee shops
have 'must have' logos on them and even sell them? What is wrong with washing the cups up? A local tea shop in Sidcup uses recycled china cups and saucers which all get washed up without leaving rubbish on the streets. People 'on the go' would be better with a reusable screw top flask.

Why not biogradable cups and bottles?
Initially these would cost more but prices will come down.
If biogradable will dissolve into harmless organics. So no more floating bottles in the sea choking fish OR as an aside, plastic bags doing the same.

Wonderful initiative by Borough Market to ban the sale of single use plastic bottles and instal water fountains. These should be available in public spaces throughout London, starting, for example, in Trafalgar Sq.

I volunteer to clean parks and the Thames and canals of litter. One thing we see lots of that hasn't been mentioned is STYROFOAM packaging. It takes donkeys years to decompose and could easily be banned and cardboard used instead. McDonalds/KFC got rid of it years ago; the Mayor should ban it London-wide and force kebab and other takeaways to stop using it.

Deposits on bottles would be great as others have suggested

The mayor should use his powers to force all establishments to offer re-usable hot drinks containers. They could have a lid and even a bag to keep them in, to avoid the problem of carrying around a dirty wet cup in your bag. Currently companies prefer to give throw-away containers because they have their branding on them, but given enough time, they could easily make branded re-usable cups. There have to be laws and financial incentives. As other commentators have said, the charge for plastic bags has been a huge success, because it was compulsory. Voluntary schemes never work. It takes time for people to learn new habits.

In addition I think all premises that have the facilities to do washing up should be forced to offer china cups as an alternative to take- away ones.

Drinking water should be available in the streets for free.

Adverts featuring throw-away bottles should be banned. Adverts for mineral water in throw-away bottles should be banned.

There should be educational campaigns in schools, through posters and ads in newspapers, to make people aware of the damage being done by our throw-away society.