RUBBISH chiefs have called on the government to act faster to ban single use plastic after a study revealed north London residents throw away over 46 million pieces of plastic every week.

The North London Waste Authority (NLWA), made up of members from seven local authorities including Camden and Islington, say there should be an end to “unnecessary” plastic over fruit and vegetables and takeaway polystyrene containers.

“Many items such as milk bottles, tubs, trays, bathroom and cleaning products can be put out for plastic recycling collection in north London and will be recycled and reprocessed in the UK,” the authority said in a statement last month.

“However, low value or composite materials like chocolate wrappers and plastic film covering fresh produce are difficult to recycle and accounted for 56 per cent of pieces thrown away by participants. Fruit and veg packaging was the most commonly counted item (17 per cent), closely followed by snack bags, packets and wrappers (14 per cent).”

The government told the New Journal that a home recycling service for plastic food and drink packaging would not be introduced until 2027 – four years away.

The staggering amount of plastic thrown away each week was revealed by a survey of more than 8,000 people by research group Everyday Plastic, which discovered 191,710 pieces of plastic were thrown away by them in just one week in May last year.

A national study by Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic revealed the UK was throwing away 1.85 billion pieces of plastic per week, with food packaging coming top of the list.

A spokesperson for the NLWA said: “We want to see these tricky-to-recycle plastics phased out and alternatives found through innovation and redesign. Following successful bans on plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds, NLWA wants the government to extend the ban to unnecessary plastic over fruit and vegetables, takeaway polystyrene containers, plastic cutlery and plates.”

All the rubbish that can’t be recycled is burned by the waste plant at Edmonton, which incinerates 500,000 tonnes of waste each year.

A spokesperson for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the government were planning to introduce a ban on plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and polystyrene cups and food containers in April this year.

Plans are also in the pipeline to “move the full cost of dealing with pack-aging waste from house-holds away from local taxpayers and councils to the packaging producers, applying the ‘polluter-pays principle’” by 2024, a spokesperson said.

There are no plans to ban food and vegetable packaging, including salad bags and vegetable nets.