Telford & Wrekin Council has launched a Plastic Free July campaign, highlighting the environmental impacts of plastic pollution and encouraging local residents and organisations to be part of the solution by ‘stepping away from single-use’ and signing a plastic free pledge.
Single-use plastics refers to any disposable plastic item designed to be used only once, such as plastic bags, drinks bottles, food packaging and toiletry bottles. The council’s campaign ties into the national Plastic Free July campaign run by the Plastic Free Foundation.
Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today. The UK estimates that there are currently more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans, and 100,000 sea mammals and one million birds die from eating or becoming tangled in plastic waste each year. A study in 2016 found that 320,000,000 tonnes of plastic were generated globally and estimated that this figure was set to double by 2034.
Telford & Wrekin Council has pledged to remove single-use plastics from the council’s operations and activities, replacing them with sustainable alternatives by 2023. It has also established a Plastic Free Taskforce, bringing together local partners to support the borough’s journey to Plastic Free status.
Cllr Carolyn Healy, cabinet member for climate change, green spaces, natural and historic environment and cultural services said:
“We recognise the role that Telford & Wrekin Council can play in leading the way on single-use plastics, educating and encouraging our staff and our community. As a council, we managed to remove single-use plastics from the vast majority of our operations by the end of 2019 and, despite setbacks due to the additional cleaning requirements through the pandemic, we remain focused on working towards our commitment.
“I would urge all residents to think about their plastic use and consider swapping to alternatives – some swaps are easy and you could implement them this week!
“We’ve set up a month-long series of emails with ‘easy swap’ advice to help you step away from single-use.
“Just visit www.telford.gov.uk/PlasticFreePledge to sign the pledge and receive the tips.”
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