Agenda item

Toconsider,in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13, thefollowing Notice ofMotion tobemoved by Councillor Thomasand seconded byCouncillor P. Smith

The Council considered the Notice of Motion 1 ‘Motion on Reducing Plastic Waste’ as set out in the Full Council’s agenda. The Motion was moved and presented by Councillor Thomas and seconded and supported by Councillor P. Smith.

During the debate on the Motion Councillors, McCarthy, B Burgess, Sharma, Irvine, P. Smith, R Burgess all spoke in support. Councillor Thomas also used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

RESOLVED

Crawley Borough Council notes that:

·         The European Parliament voted by a huge majority (571 to 53) in 2018 for a complete ban on a range of single use plastics (such as plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds and straws) by 2021 and a 25% reduction in plastic use where no current alternative exists such as burger boxes and sandwich wrappers.

And notes with concern that:

·         Hundreds of millions of tons of new plastic is made every year, much of which is for single use such as plastic bags, straws and food packaging. In many cases there are practicable alternatives available that area either re-useable or compostable.

·         The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which promotes the transition to a ‘Circular Economy’ has estimated that by weight there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050.

·         ‘Almost 80 per cent of the 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic produced over the past 70 years has been discarded into landfill or the environment, including the ocean.’ Sir David Attenborough

·         Plastic in the rivers and seas leads to rubbish on beaches and riverbanks, as well as entanglement, death through ingestion, toxic transfer and, once degraded into microplastics, contamination of the animal and human food chains with negative effects on health.

Crawley Borough Council welcomes:

·         The European Parliament ban in 2018

·         The current consultation on Deposit Return Schemes and the significant reduction in plastic waste that such schemes have achieved in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

·         The success of the ‘plastic bag levy’ introduced which has led to an 85% reduction in disposable bag usage in England and 9 billion fewer bags per year going into landfill or waste treatment.

·         The introduction of a ban on products containing microbeads as a way of reducing the likelihood of such products getting into the oceans and harming marine life.

Crawley Borough Council agrees that the Borough will make every effort to reduce plastic waste specifically by:

·         Undertaking an audit of single use plastics used by this Local Authority and all CBC commissioned services, replacing them with sustainable or re-useable alternatives wherever possible.

·         Ensuring, where possible, that all future council commissioning exercises eliminate the use of single use plastics, replacing them with sustainable or re-useable alternatives where practicable.

·         Informing members of the public in its online and written communications of the importance of reducing plastic waste.

·         Using its membership of the West Sussex Waste Partnership to improve opportunities to recycle materials wherever possible.

·         Calling on all supermarkets in the borough to reduce the use of plastic food wrappings.

·         Calling on local supermarkets  to consider introducing a ‘plastic free aisle’ on a trial basis,

·         Working collaboratively with businesses, other public bodies and representative organisations such as NHS Crawley Commissioning Group, County Mall, Manor Royal Business Improvement Partnership and the Town Centre Partnership to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced.

·         Exploring all options to reduce single-use plastic water bottle waste in Crawley such as:

o   Encouraging community water-refill schemes

o   Improving free access to tap water in local businesses and organisations including cafes and restaurants

o   Ending the sale of plastic bottled water on council-managed premises.

o   Promoting Apps to help consumers to locate free tap water

o   Installing free water fountains in high footfall areas including children’s playgrounds.