Recycling Association accuses PM of contradicting government policy

The chief executive of the Recycling Association Simon Ellin has said “I think he has completely lost the plastic plot here, if I’m honest,” in reaction to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments that recycling will not solve climate change.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme this afternoon that his initial reaction to the Prime Minister’s comments was “wow” and that he thought the remarks were “very disappointing.”

“We need to reduce and I would completely agree with him on that,” he explained, “but his own government has just invested in the resources and waste strategy, which is the most ground-breaking recycling legislation and plan that we’ve ever seen, with recycling right at the front of it… So he seems to be completely conflicting with his own government’s policy.”

The Prime Minister said that recycling is a “red herring”, in a press conference held with schoolchildren and WWF UK Chief Executive Tanya Steele earlier today, saying: “If people think we can recycle our way out of the problem they will be making a huge mistake.”

At this afternoon’s Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman said that his comments did not mean his disagreed with recycling, explaining: “The prime minister was setting out that recycling alone is not the answer. We’re taking a wide range of action across society to cut plastic pollution. Simply relying on recycling alone as the prime minister set out would be a red herring, we need to go further and take wider action.”