Brexiteers have taken to shouting at plastic bottle tops – here’s why connected caps matter

Brexiteer Isabel Oakeshott has taken to shouting at new plastic bottles which come with connected caps in a bid to fill column inches in The Telegraph.

The European Union banned the use of disposable plastic bottles with separate lids to curb the amount of plastic waste making its way into the rivers and oceans.

Martin Dorey, the founder of 2 Minute Beach Clean, says bottle tops are among the most picked-up items by beach cleaners, and far outnumber bottles.

Even Oakeshott admits the rubbish takes 450 years to decompose and “does terrible things to dolphins and whales”, adding that “few would dispute the mess it makes.”

But while she sees the EU directive as a battle over Britain’s Brexit legacy, Dorey has gone on the front foot to educate people as to why the new controls are a good thing.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the environmentalist pointed out that bottle tops are far more likely to get washed down drains, into rivers and the sea when littered, and they are made from a different type of plastic that floats.

“So keeping the top attached to the bottle will help to reduce plastic pollution – which we now know is a BIG problem – significantly.”

“It is not woke. It is simply good sense.”