20 July 2018
Green Councillors pushing for action to reduce single-use plastic waste have welcomed the news that Brighton and Hove City Council will now adopt a Single Use Plastics policy.
Successful proposals in November last year called on the Council to introduce a range of measures to end the circulation and use of single-use plastics (SUP) across Brighton and Hove, backed by all parties.
The Green proposals included a request that the Council become a full signatory to the ‘Plastic Free Pledge’ set up by local campaigners, spearheaded by local group Claire Potter Design, as well as working with local businesses leading on plastic reduction to share best practice on eliminating SUPs. [2]
Further demands from the Greens that focused on ending the purchase of single use plastics in the Council’s supply chain have been incorporated in the policy.
At a meeting of Policy, Resources and Growth Committee last week, Greens also introduced new criteria to ensure city events go ‘plastic free.’ Green requests that ‘event organisers eliminate single-use plastics as a condition of their event permission’ will now be added to the policy. [3]
Claire Potter, local campaigner and founder of the Plastic Free Pledge, commented:
“Following the passing of the Motions in November 2017, it is excellent to see the steps that Brighton and Hove City Council have taken to begin the transition towards being single-use plastic free. It is so important that BHCC lead by example, and the new SUP policy clearly sets out areas that can be expanded on going forward.
“We at Plastic Free Pledge are looking forward to seeing this policy put into practice – and developed to include requirements such as SUP free events, which will really reinforce Brighton and Hove’s place as leaders in the fight against single-use plastic.”
Green Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, who proposed the amendment to the policy, added:
“The energy that local residents have put into beach cleans and petitions to the Council tells us how important the issue of reducing single-use plastics is to our city by the sea. Greens have been calling on the Labour Council to take decisive action on this issue for over half a year so we are pleased to see progress in the form of this Single Use Plastics Policy. It includes many of our proposals for a plastic free city and Greens have successfully pressed the Council to do more, including requiring event organisers and vendors to avoid single use plastics as a condition of their permission.
“Greens will continue to keep a close eye on how this pans out. We have asked that the Council come back with a clear action plan, including timescales, detailing how and when the new changes will make a positive difference in practice. After months of campaigning the policy is welcome news but we’re not stopping there. We also repeat our call for Labour to do more to address the agreement with waste company Veolia that currently restricts recycling of most plastics.” [5]