A DELAY in introducing a new tax on single-use plastic until 2022 could see 700,000 additional tons of packaging thrown away, Labour will warn the government today.

Over the next four years, there will be over a trillion pieces of plastic being thrown away, including nearly 830 billion additional pieces of non-recyclable plastics, the party’s analysis of government data found.

Shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said the Tories’ “dither and delay” over even the most basic measures was “scandalous.”

“Yet again the government is showing a shocking disregard for the environment at a time when the urgency and seriousness of the situation has never been clearer,” she added.

The Budget announced the new plastic tax on single-use packaging that is made up of less than 30 per cent recycled plastic.

Britain throws away 295bn pieces of plastics each year, 2.5bn of which are disposable coffee cups, with 70 per cent being non-recyclable single-use plastic.

Friends of the Earth plastics campaigner Julian Kirby called out the government’s pledges on plastic pollution as “full of bluster and hype, but precious little action.”

He told the Star: “Chancellor Philip Hammond’s decision to delay a plastic tax and shelve plans for a ‘latte levy’ will pour more plastic waste into our environment — as well as blowing a huge hole in the government’s green credentials.

“If ministers want to be taken seriously on this issue they must announce an ambitious plastic pollution action plan in their waste strategy, due later this month.”

Mr Kirby added that the government must aim for near zero plastics pollution by 2042 — starting with the phase-out of all “unnecessary plastics.”

The cross-party environmental audit committee recommended that the government impose a 25p “latte levy” on single-use cups to discourage their use and fund new “infrastructure” in January to drive up recycling.

Greenpeace plastics campaigner Paul Morozzo told the Star that it was “unacceptable” that the government was failing to take charge of the “crisis overwhelming our oceans.”

He added: “We need action to stop this harmful plastic pollution now. The plastic bag charge showed us that tough action on plastics works, and the public supports it. The same logic should apply to non-recyclable disposable coffee cups.”

Mr Morozzo said that problem plastics must be banned by 2019, and the government must set a “tough timetable” for year-on-year reductions.