CAMDEN COUNCIL STEPS UP CAMPAIGN TO CUT DOWN ON PLASTIC BAGS

8 March 2006

Camden Council has stepped up its campaign to reduce the consumption of plastic bags, and help improve the environment both locally and globally.

In a recent meeting (24 February) with representatives from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), the council set out its two-pronged approach to limiting the number of bags used in Camden.

Firstly, Camden Council is encouraging local supermarkets and shops to take action through voluntary initiatives and cut the number of plastic bags they hand out. For example it will be approaching retailers in the new Brunswick Centre development, due to open in Summer 2006, for discussions. As well as customers knowing they are shopping in a more environmentally friendly way, reducing plastic bag use would help cut retailers' costs as the price of bags is rising with oil prices.

Secondly the council is promoting more environmentally friendly alternatives to residents, workers and its own staff. For example:

• Camden Library Service will be setting up new 'bring and take' bins instead of supplying new plastic bags. People can reuse the carriers when taking home the books they have borrowed, which the council hopes will save the use of around 12,000 bags per year.
• From March 2006 onwards, Camden Council is sending cotton shopping bags to 100,000 households in the borough, as a handy alternative. If one person from each household that receives a bag uses it instead of plastic bags, 29 million plastic bags a year could be diverted from landfill. Cotton bags are also already handed out at council environmental events.
• In December 2005, Camden Council introduced biodegradable hessian bags at its Swiss Cottage market as a practical substitute for shoppers. The bags can be re-used and once disposed of will break down rather than littering the environment. Shoppers can buy the bags at the market for £1 each. The council also aims to make these bags available at the borough's other markets, such as Queen’s Crescent, in the future.
• Camden Council's Strategic Procurement Unit provides support to all departments on buying environmentally friendly products and advises against buying plastic bags, or at the very least purchasing ones that are biodegradable or have recycled content.

Cllr John Thane, Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council, said:

"Camden Council believes that we should be a catalyst for change and seize the initiative in pressing for national action on cutting plastic bag use. It's a problem that affects us all, causing litter on our streets and pollution to our parks, wildlife and waterways, as well as contributing to global climate change. Plastic bags are a major item in the waste stream and cutting down on the number we use when we're going about our day-to-day business is a simple action to take but would significantly help improve the environment, locally and globally."

The campaign is part of the council's original and ambitious environmental policies, as set out in its Climate Change Action Plan. The council is encouraging residents, businesses and its own staff to reduce, reuse and recycle to help tackle waste management issues and environmental problems at all levels.

In the UK, more than 10 billion plastic bags at a cost of £1billion are consumed every year, only to be dumped in landfill sites, incinerated or found disfiguring the streets and countryside. Plastic bags can take up to 500 years to decompose in landfill, and when not disposed of properly can have a disastrous impact on the landscape, water systems and wildlife. Every person in the UK uses and throws away 290 plastic bags per year and 8 per cent of global oil performance goes into making plastic bags.

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