A ‘plastics and sustainability team’ across Devon and Cornwall has been set up to tackle avoidable waste as part of an Environment Agency project worth £750,000.
The announcement followed a pledge by the government to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042, as part of the 25 year Environment Plan, published last week (see letsrecycle.com story).
The EA’s new Plastics and Sustainability team will work with businesses, councils and community action groups to reduce plastic pollution
The plastics and sustainability team will work with local councils, businesses and charities with an aim to reduce the amount of plastic pollution. The team will also “promote better environmental practices across industry” and run community campaigns to clean up pollution locally.
Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the Environment Agency, made the announcement from Bude, Cornwall, on Friday (5 January) where she met with groups and charities working to clean up the coastline.
She explained that the government’s “ambitious” plan for the environment is is a “significant step forward and the Environment Agency’s commitment to reduce plastic pollution shows how we are already working to put the plan into action”.
“Plastic pollution is a threat to our natural environment and our new team promises to tackle it head on,” Ms Howard Boyd said. “By working together, we can reduce the amount which enters our land, rivers and the sea and protect wildlife for future generations.”
Ambitions for the project include a reduction in the amount of plastic pollution across land, rivers and the coastline, increased local engagement to change public behavior, as well as funding research into ways plastics enter and affect the environment.
Ms Howard Boyd said that she will be returning to Bude in June, to mark World Oceans Day, and to see the project’s progress.
Bathing waters
Emma Howard Boyd said she will check the project’s progress in June
In November 2016, the Agency announced that “after work with partners to improve bathing waters in England”, 98.5% of bathing water passed tough standards for the first time since before the industrial revolution.
The Agency says a similar partnership approach will be taken in the plastics and sustainability team to reduce the amount of plastic pollution across land, rivers and the coastline.
Environment Plan
When details of the 25 year Environment Plan were released last week, Defra pointed to evidence by the Marine Conservation Society, which found that in the UK alone, there were 718 pieces of litter for every 100 metre stretch of beach surveyed. Of this rubbish, plastic from food and drink made up at least one fifth.
Theresa May also announced plans to “put the sustainable development of our oceans firmly on the agenda” when she hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April.
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