Plan to drive down single-use plastics launched

Greater Manchester launches first city-region wide plan to drive down single-use plastics

A campaign to ditch single-use plastics is encouraging businesses and people to make the shift away from single-use plastics to renewable alternatives - aiming to be plastic-free by 2020.

Mayor Andy Burnham will help the campaign to establish a Green City Business Consortium that will bring together Greater Manchester businesses looking to make change from single-use plastics to reusable, recyclable plastics and other alternative materials.

The consortium will be designed to make sure that smaller businesses, which are looking to make the transition from plastic to more sustainable options, are not disadvantaged by cost. By buying in bulk and making the switchover together, businesses can make a speedy, more affordable transition.

Mr Burnham, said: “People have been horrified by the images on our televisions showing just how polluted our oceans and rivers have become through plastic waste.  This isn’t just happening on the other side of the world.  Last week we heard the difficult news that Greater Manchester’s rivers were some of the most polluted.  It’s clear that we cannot just carry on as usual – the time has come for action.

“Greater Manchester is a region renowned for innovation – we’re large enough to experiment at scale, yet small enough to come together and innovate at speed.   Just look at what we’re doing today – the Green Summit is a unique event that’s brought all sorts of people together to reduce our carbon emissions, crowdsource ideas to make Greater Manchester one of the greenest city-regions in Europe.

“I’m proud that major figures from Greater Manchester’s hospitality and tourism industry have chosen the Green Summit as a platform to launch this campaign that could help make Greater Manchester the first UK city-region that eliminates single-use plastics.  It’s got my full support.

“It won’t be without challenges, but Greater Manchester is all about leading the way and doing things that bit differently. If we’re successful in our efforts to drive down our use of single-use plastics and accelerate our ambitions for carbon neutrality, there’s no reason why similar models couldn’t be adopted across the UK.”

As well as straws, local cafes, hotels and restaurants are also being encouraged to ditch single-portion pats of plastic-wrapped butter and jams in plastic pots. Single-use coffee cups and water bottles will also be targeted.