Bedford Borough Council backs ‘Plastic Free July’

Mayor Dave Hodgson and Bedford Borough Council are backing 'Plastic Free July', the global movement to help people be part of the solution to plastic pollution, and enable cleaner streets, oceans and communities.

Recycle Now estimates that 79% of the plastic waste ever created is still in our environment, with only 58% of plastic bottles being recycled.

By reusing and recycling items as many times as possible, e.g. by recycling used plastic bottles into new ones, we can all reduce our need to create new plastic.

Reducing the need to create new plastic will, in turn, conserve non-renewable fossil fuels, reduce the consumption of energy used in the production of new plastic, reduce the amount of solid waste going to landfill and reduce the emission of gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

If you would like to do more to reduce plastic consumption, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Remember to take your own bags to the supermarket - they can be re-used multiple times and plastic carrier bags can be recycled at many supermarket collection points if you're no longer able to use them.
• Instead of getting a coffee in a take away cup, grabbing lunch on the go or buying a bottle of water- use a reusable hot drinks cup, lunch box or water bottle and you can even save yourself some money
• Check out reusable alternatives to many single-use plastics - do a little research to find sustainable alternatives that will work best for you.

Councillor Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Environment said "With all of us doing our best to 'reduce, reuse and recycle': reducing what we buy to just what we need and will use, reusing what we can, and recycling as much as possible from what's left- we can all do our part to create l ess waste. So take a look at the list above, or get googling and find ways that work for you to bring down your use of plastics.Bedford Borough Council- like lots of councils around the country- provides a kerbside plastic recycling collection. Just rinse out your plastic bottles, yoghurt tubs, fruit punnets, meat trays, butter tubs and lids, and more and give it a good squish before you place it into your recycling bin."