Call to cut down on the use of plastic

Sustainable Bridgnorth's new slogan is "prevent pointless plastic," and organisers behind the push have said they are making great strides in getting closer to their goal of blocking the material from the town's shops.

The group is set to launch a Government petition asking for legislation around plastic recycling to be updated.

Retailers could completely ditch the bags from checkouts and, long term, it is hoped a number of schemes can be set up to rid the town of the difficult to recycle material.

The new campaign, called #LoveBridgnorth:HatePlastic, has been launched after a showing of environmental documentary Trashed took place in the town.

Support

Kath Norgrove, chairwoman at Sustainable Bridgnorth, said: "We have updated our slogan for the campaign to 'prevent pointless plastic' and have made great strides with the different project teams, schools competitions and shops surveys, with the latter receiving a lot of support from local businesses.

"An exciting refill scheme which encourages participating cafes, bars, restaurants, and other businesses to sign up to the free Refill app and put a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their water bottle for free will also be launched in the New Year."

Packaging specialist Mike Goulding of TLC packaging gave a talk to Sustainable Bridgnorth, and Kath said it was very interesting.

"He gave a very informative presentation about the scientific technology behind different packaging materials, use of plastics and how they are recycled," she said.

"It was extremely educational and has helped the group to be realistic, focused and more effective."

Petition

The talk inspired the group to launch a petition aimed at changing the way plastics are labelled.

Kath said: "Following his presentation, it became clear that although there are seven types of plastic, five of which could be recycled easily, the labelling is not clear enough or well enough explained to help people recycle more.

"There is no legislation to enforce this, it is a voluntary code. Each region chooses to offer different levels of recycling for the different numbers. Most households have no idea.

"The next step is to develop a petition which seeks the government to revise legislation which makes a statutory requirement on manufacturers to show clearly the type of plastic and for this to translate simply into different plastic recycling facilities."