a)    By Councillor Coppinger:

 

This Council:

 

i) Agrees with the general principles of the Plastic Free Communities scheme namely to:

 

·         Lead by example in removing single-use plastic items from council premises as has already been agreed by the Sustainability Panel on 18 September 2018

·         Encourage plastic free initiatives such as Maidenhead Challenging Plastic, promote the Plastic Free Windsor and Plastic Free Maidenhead campaigns and support campaign events.

·         Encourage all businesses within the Borough to become plastic free.

    

ii) Work towards becoming a Plastic Free Council, including but not limited to:

 

·         Ceasing to use or to permit the use of single-use plastics in properties and open spaces under the management of the council.

·         Seeking to minimize the use of single use plastics in any future contracts.

 

iii) Reduce the use of plastic drinks bottles by:

 

·         Working with an external supplier to trial at least one reverse vending machine in the Borough

·         Supporting the work of Refill to enable all residents and visitors to refill their reusable water bottles across the Borough and to increase the supply of fresh drinking water within the Borough.

 

 

b)   By Councillor Jones:

 

Plastic Free Windsor and Plastic Free Maidenhead are part of 'Surfers against Sewage', a national organisation. They are a community group set up to encourage our own communities to become plastic free. As a Council we can play a huge part in enabling these organisations and working with them towards one aim. Reducing plastics in our community.

 

This Council:

 

i)     Agrees with the general principles of the Plastic Free Communities scheme namely to:

·         Lead by example in removing single-use plastic items from Council premises.

·         Encourage plastic free initiatives locally, promote the Plastic Free Windsor and Plastic Free Maidenhead campaigns and support campaign events.

       ii) Work towards becoming a Plastic Free Council, including but not limited to:

·         Changes its own practices by removing single-use plastics.

·         Ceasing to use or to permit the use of single-use plastics in properties and open spaces under the management of the Council.

·         Seeking to minimise the use of single use plastics in any future contracts.

 

 

Councillor Coppinger introduced his motion. He explained that both he and Councillor Jones were passionate about reducing the amount of plastic used in the borough. This was the reason two similar motions had been put forward. He had agreed with Councillor Jones to combine the two motions; he would present the motion and Councillor Jones would second the proposal. He therefore proposed an amendment to recommendation i, second bullet point, to read:

·         Encourage plastic free initiatives such as Maidenhead Challenging Plastic, promote the Plastic Free Windsor and Plastic Free Maidenhead campaigns, appoint a Member of the council to each of the Plastic Free Steering committees and support campaign events.

Councillor Coppinger explained that when the Prime Minister announced the government’s environmental strategy in January two Maidenhead ladies, Tricia Buck and Donna Stimson formed Maidenhead Challenging Plastics with a view to leaving Maidenhead in an environmentally better place than they had found it. The group had expanded with many more people joining. They had discussed this initiative with Gail Tudor of Surfers Against Sewage and also considered joining Plastic Free Communities but plastic free was not realistic because there was a need for some plastic, reducing the amount was the important thing.

The group had met monthly since May and were working across a number of fronts:

·      Setting Refill up whereby shops and restaurants agree to fill water bottles. They would have a Refill logo in their window to show that they were part of the scheme.

·      Litter picking with Councillors, but not just litter picking but separating recycling from rubbish and taking recycling to Stafferton Way to ensure the maximum amount was recycled.

·      A blog called ‘Maidenhead Matters’ sharing both their tips and those of Green Redeem's Reduce Reuse Recycle scheme. Residents can share their ideas and also report areas which need litter picking.

·      A community section which was running a schools competition called Litter Art that had gone out to all primary schools thanks to CouncilIor Natasha Airey.

·      Working with Green Redeem whereby 25 schools would be given Deposit Return Scheme machines, so called ‘reversed vending machines’. For every bottle received the school received 5p with a ceiling of £2000.

 

Kuldeep Ahir of Maidenhead Chamber of Commerce had asked Councillor Coppinger to mention that the following night the Chamber was holding a meeting at the ‘3’ offices to share knowledge with businesses to help them become plastic free and to support businesses with plastic free alternative products. Councillor Coppinger commented that if all these people could do something, it was about time the council did, hence the reason for the joint motion.

 

Councillor Jones welcomed the motion and was delighted to second it with the amendment as stated; she understood that this meant her motion would fall away. There was a cross-party interest in how single use plastics affected all environments. Plastic free communities were part of Surfers Against Sewage. The Crown Estate was an established supporter of Surfers Against Sewage, in fact they were one of the charities Prince Harry made donations to on the occasion of his wedding. Theresa May had awarded Rachel Yates, the woman who delivered Plastic Free Penzance, an award in recognition of her efforts. Having designated council members on the steering groups achieved the last of the five objectives to be a Plastic Free community. The Plastic Free communities and any other organisation working towards this would welcome council support.

 

Councillor Da Costa stated that people wanted to revel in the vibrancy of life. The government’s own strategy paper, called for ‘cleaner air and water; plants and animals which are thriving;’ he would add residents who were happy and well and ‘a cleaner, greener country for us all.’ The report, ‘A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment’ set out a range of objectives which went further than mere words about plastic to include:

·         Using and managing land sustainably

·         Recovering nature and enhancing the beauty of landscapes

·         Connecting people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing

·         Increasing resource efficiency, and reducing pollution and waste

·         Securing clean, productive and biologically diverse rivers and watercourses

·         Protecting and improving the local and regional environment

·         Using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently.

·         Enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment, including the green belt

·         Mitigating and adapting to climate change

·         Minimising waste and aiming to eliminate landfill, leachate, waste gases and wasteful contaminated land

·         Managing exposure to chemicals and pollutants, for example, air pollution locally from aircraft and cars

·         Enhancing biosecurity for local flora, fauna and ecosystems

Councillor Da Costa stated that he supported the motion in its entirety as it was a start. If the council made the amendment it was a step forward but residents wanted the council to go further, further even than the higher table of ambition of Plymouth, Mendip and many other councils who had already committed to change, implemented policy and set out on the path of excellence.

The council should walk the extra mile and,

·         Audit its resources to understand the status and report on it

·         Engage widely with residents, businesses, best practice councils and environmental groups and experts

·         Develop a plan that included council, residents, businesses, colleges, and the local ecosystem

·         Drive this deep into council policies, processes, planning regimes (the Borough Local Plan), bylaws and enforcement

·         Set milestones, dates and a Lead Member to ensure achievement

·         Continually reinvent the process to improve, improve, improve

·         Communicate to facilitate learning about protecting the environment

The council needed to set this as a key objective and measure and report progress regularly, be accountable to its residents, its children and future generations. The council needed to work together to ensure that a better legacy was left for the next generation. Vastly reducing the use of plastics across the borough was essential, as well as wider schemes to improve and protect the environment in general.

Time was short. Sir David Attenborough’s recent address to UN’s 24th conference of the parties or COP24, in Katowice, Poland stated:

‘Time is running out. People want us, the decision makers, to act now. They are behind us, along with civil society represented here today. Supporting us in our tough decisions but also willing to make sacrifices in their lives daily’

Councillor Da Costa reiterated that people wanted to revel in the vibrancy of life; so he encouraged the council to create a vibrant environment for flora, fauna and humans and take seriously husbanding resources, the environment, the ecosystem and achieving the well-being of residents. The council should make the amendment then convene its own conference of the parties to achieve. The council owed this to its residents, to the land and to future generations.

Councillor D Evans commented that whilst he congratulated the initiatives to reduce plastics he was concerned about the way the motion was worded, in particular how it would be enforced. The motion needed a practical element otherwise it was set up for failure from the start. There was no way that the council could achieve plastic free status. For example, he questioned how future contracts would be monitored.

 

The Managing Director of Riverford Organics, the leading vegetable box schemes in the UK, had said that plastic boxes could reduce the carbon footprint of the business’ packaging by 70% if wooden boxes were replaced with plastic ones because they had a much longer life.

This was not a straightforward matter. Councillor D. Evans finished with a comment from The Guardian:

‘Householders continue to see plastic as wicked and paper-based goods as benign. But when considered over the entire life of the packaging, paper and cardboard embody far more greenhouse gases than their plastic equivalents. Paper products take substantial amounts of energy to make. Crushing a tree down into small fibres, mixing the wood pulp into a slurry and then passing the wet mass through huge rollers cannot be done without use of enormous quantities of power.’

He in no way denigrated the idea of reducing plastics but the idea that the council could live without plastic was fanciful. A degree of realism was needed.

 

Councillor McWilliams thanked the volunteers of the Cox Green litter pickers.

 

Councillor E. Wilson commented that it was about setting an idea and encouraging people on a path. Maidenhead Matters had invited him to a litter-pick in Grenfell Park; the litter collected was then recycled. In Dedworth community litter picks had also been run and were complemented by a Dedworth Recycling Day. The item picked up most was empty energy drink bottles. The practical thing to do would be to write to the manufacturer to ask them to include prominent messages on the packaging about recycling. Councillors should set the example for residents by undertaking litter picks.

 

Councillor Werner commented that it was a hugely complicate issue but it was difficult to get all the facts in one motion to present to council. This was a good start, setting a clear example and a direction in which to head. He thanked Plastic Free Maidenhead and Windsor for their work.

 

Councillor Hollingsworth commented that he had attended the recent Sustainability Panel meeting at which the two ladies had made some very good points and submitted questions to officers which were to be responded to in writing. He asked the Lead Member to ensure this would happen.

 

Councillor N. Airey highlighted the schools competition and encouraged councillors who were governors to get their school involved.

 

Councillor S Rayner stated her support for the motion. There was already a lot of great work on the environment, such as at Braywick Nature Reserve and volunteers across the borough.

 

Councillor Cannon supported the motion and highlighted that there was a difference between single function items and single use plastic.

 

Councillor Hunt commented that residents of the villages in her ward, and across the borough, undertook litter picks. She had attended the opening of the Margaret Bowdrey bridge which had been made in part of composite plastic which was longer lasting and cheaper than wood.

 

Councillor Lenton stated that he supported the reduction in use of plastics but to suggest that the council could do without plastic was nonsense. For example vehicles ran on tyres made of synthetic rubber. If there was a return to natural rubber this would devastate half of South America and Southeast Asia. The removal of all plastics would destroy the world economy.

 

Councillor Coppinger highlighted that the focus was on reducing the use of plastics, not stopping the use entirely.

 

Councillor Yong provided some facts about the effects of plastic in the fashion industry:

 

·         The cost to the UK economy to send clothing and textiles to landfill was £82m per annum. She thanked the borough for now collecting textiles for recycling.

·         By 2050 the fashion industry would have used 25% of the world’s carbon budget.

·         500,000 tonnes of microfibers were released into the ocean during clothes washing each year.

 

It was proposed by Councillor Coppinger, seconded by Councillor Jones, and:

 

RESOLVED: That this Council:

 

i) Agrees with the general principles of the Plastic Free Communities scheme namely to:

 

·         Lead by example in removing single-use plastic items from council premises as has already been agreed by the Sustainability Panel on 18 September 2018

 

·         Encourage plastic free initiatives such as Maidenhead Challenging Plastic, promote the Plastic Free Windsor and Plastic Free Maidenhead campaigns, appoint a Member of the council to each of the Plastic Free Steering committees and support campaign events.

 

·         Encourage all businesses within the Borough to become plastic free.

    

ii) Work towards becoming a Plastic Free Council, including but not limited to:

 

·         Ceasing to use or to permit the use of single-use plastics in properties and open spaces under the management of the council.

 

·         Seeking to minimize the use of single use plastics in any future contracts.

 

iii) Reduce the use of plastic drinks bottles by:

 

·         Working with an external supplier to trial at least one reverse vending machine in the Borough

 

·         Supporting the work of Refill to enable all residents and visitors to refill their reusable water bottles across the Borough and to increase the supply of fresh drinking water within the Borough.

 

(44 Councillors voted for the motion; Councillor M. Airey, N. Airey, Alexander, Bateson, Beer, Bicknell, Brimacombe, Cannon, Carroll, Clark, Coppinger, Da Costa, Diment, Dudley, D. Evans, L. Evans, Gilmore, Hill, Hilton, Hollingsworth, Hunt, Ilyas, Jones, Kellaway, Lion, Love, Luxton, Majeed, McWilliams, Mills, Muir, Quick, C. Rayner, S. Rayner, Sharma, Sharp, Sharpe, Smith, Story, Targowska, Werner, D. Wilson, E. Wilson and Yong.  1 Councillor voted against the motion: Councillor Lenton.)

 

Members noted that Councillor Jones’ motion was no longer required.