A few years ago I found myself outside a Tesco in Central London, surrounded by members of the Women’s Institute. I realised then how Tony Blair must have felt as the same organization accorded him the public slow handclap years ago.

We were waging war against waste. The ladies had done their weekly shopping, and between us we were unbundling the excess packaging, piling it up by the shop window and demanding to see the manager.

The UK is shamefully wasteful. Of the resources we use in our economy, most last less than six months before being thrown away. The waste we generate every two hours would fill the Albert Hall.

No one benefits from our throwaway society. At a time where pressure on the world’s resources has never been greater, it makes sense to be more efficient. That means viewing waste in a completely different way.

Recycling is worthwhile, but it’s only part of the solution. The real priority is reducing the amount of waste we generate in the first place. And the most effective way to do that is to make waste more expensive for companies to produce it. If waste is a liability, companies will operate in such a way that minimises that liability.

Of all the waste we generate, the plastic bag is perhaps the greatest symbol of our throwaway society. They are used and then forgotten, and they leave a terrible legacy. Thousands of sea turtles, whales, and countless other species mistake the bags for food and once ingested, the bags block the animal’s insides and cause a horrible death.

The figures are shocking. Each year 13 billion bags are used and thrown away in the UK. Each bag will be used for an average of 20 minutes, and once discarded will take anything up to 1,000 years to decompose. About 98 per cent will end up in our already overflowing landfill sites. Some 200 million will litter the countryside.

We are way behind the curve in Britain. Countless other countries have taken the initiative to ban or phase out the bag. China, South Africa, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Taiwan and San Francisco have all introduced bans. Others have introduced a bag tax. In Ireland for instance, a bag-tax has led to a reported 90 per cent reduction in the number of bags used. A similar scheme in the UK would mean 11 billion fewer bags going to landfill each year.

In spite of a sluggish response by our leaders, things are beginning to happen. I spoke recently at the launch of a plastic bag ban in Kew, London, where all of the local shops with the exception of Tesco have agreed to take part in the voluntary action, which was in turn inspired by a similar programme in Modbury, Devon.

But just as plastic bags and excess packaging are deeply unpopular, so too are goods that breakdown too quickly, with no hope of repair. It’s called inbuilt-obsolescence.

Some countries require manufacturers to ensure their products can be recycled or easily repaired. In Japan for instance all television sets, air-conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators must be between 50 per cent and 60 per cent recyclable. A less prescriptive approach would be to introduce a levy on goods whose life expectancy is measurably less than the average for that type of good.

But because people are suspicious that ‘green taxes’ are in fact ‘stealth taxes’, it’s crucial that every penny raised is reinvested in protecting the environment. That was how the landfill tax was introduced. In the beginning, much of the money raised was ploughed directly back into the local community for all to see. It was effective, largely popular and must now be strengthened.

Places as far apart as Bath in the UK to Canberra in Australia have declared their ambition to become zero waste communities. It’s only an aspiration, but it’s one Britain should share.