Five year strategy to rid northern Devon of single-use plastics
A five-year strategy and action plan to rid northern Devon of single-use plastics has been agreed by members of the Plastic Free North Devon Consortium.
The consortium, which was set up in April last year to combat the global problem of plastic pollution through local action, consists of representatives from a number of charities, voluntary groups and organisations including:
- Barnstaple Town Council
- Barnstaple and District Chamber of Commerce
- Beaford
- Devon County Council
- Ilfracombe Town Council
- Keep Britain Tidy
- National Trust
- North Devon Coast AONB
- North Devon Council
- North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve
- Plastic Free North Devon
- PETROC College of Further and Higher Education
- South Molton Town Council
- Torridge District Council
- 2 Minute Beach Clean
- Westward Ho! Business Association
All members have now agreed the strategy for the consortium, which will work across four key areas – communities, tourism, farming and fishing, and other businesses – with the aim of making the biggest and most immediate impacts on the plastic problem in our area.
The consortium’s strategy includes an action plan, which has a number of aims:
- increase education about the impact of plastic waste
- reduce plastic consumption
- remove plastic that has entered the natural environment
- recycle or dispose of used plastic appropriately
- deliver projects to ensure their message is reaching the people and businesses of northern Devon
The action plan focuses not only on the shoreline, but also on the problem of plastics in the rural inland areas.
