PRESS RELEASE
Issued by:
Councillor Gill Gardiner
Date of Issue: 14th December 2007
Contact numbers:
625 2738
07803 065578

Wirral to go ‘plastic bag-free'

Liberal Democrats are calling for an end to free plastic bags in the borough.

Councillor Gill Gardiner, Wirral's Cabinet Member for Environment, who is leading the call, said,

"All over the country campaigns are forming to get rid of disposable plastic bags - one of the most visible symbols of environmental waste'

“Over 17 billion plastic bags are handed out free by supermarkets in the UK every year, and 200 million of them end up as waste on Britain 's streets, parks, and beaches.

“However, they are not ‘free' in the end; we all bear the costs in terms of waste disposal and ridding our local environment of the litter they cause.

“Even when disposed of they can take 400 to 1000 years to degrade in our landfill sites.

“I am therefore calling upon Wirral Council to take a lead in reducing free plastic bag provision by not only ending the use of free plastic bags within the Council, but also launching a Wirral-wide campaign to gain voluntary agreement between the Council, business, and other interested parties to end the practice of providing free plastic bags within the whole Borough.”

The Liberal Democrat proposals build upon their previous proposals, agreed last year, which led to requests to local supermarkets to cut packaging to help meet recycling targets and keep down rising landfill costs.

Councillor Gardiner continued,

“The public is often frustrated by the volume of packaging that can be accumulated during a simple trip to the supermarket. Government figures indicate that families now spend £470 on packaging each year.”

Councillor Gardiner's motion will be debated at Wirral's Full Council Meeting on Monday 17 December.

Councillor Gill Gardiner (Cabinet Member for Environment) clearing up
some of the many plastic bags that litter our local environment.

Click here for the Liberal Democrat Notice of Motion

Brighton and Modbury have declared themselves plastic bag free and the London Assembly has initiated legislation to impose a levy on plastic bags.
Click here for the Guardian Modbury story: