Cherwell council criticised for adding to plastic waste in Banburyshire

Terry Andrews of Main Street, North Newington said he cannot understand why the council has gone to the expense of delivering a thick plastic bottle bags to every home in his village.

The bags were distributed by a council worker with a letter announcing a new bottle bank at the Broughton and North Newington Sports and Social Club.

"It's great that they've put a bottle bank at the sports club but why did they need to pay for thick plastic bags for everyone? We've been taking our bottles very successfully to bottle banks using our own bags and boxes for years and years," said Mr Andrews, who runs a paper and card bag and box production company, the Bag 'n' Box Man.

Requests for information from Cherwell District Council could not achieve a cost for the plastic bags and their distribution or a comment on the concern about using plastics.

However a spokesman said: "The bags are very cheap and the increase in glass recycling income more than covered the price within the first six months."

Carbonfootprint.com said: "Since the BBC's Blue Planet 2 highlighted the devastation that our plastic pollution can have, many people are asking what they can do to reduce their plastic waste.

"Plastic has become an integrated part of our lives, so much so that most are unaware of how much we use and what we can do to reduce our plastic waste.

"Virtually all of the plastic that has ever been made still exists today as it stays in the environment for up to 1,000 years and we produce around 335 million tonnes of plastic each year - that is roughly the same weight as all of humanity combined.

"Our reliance on plastic is devastating to the environment with 13 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean each year meaning that there will be more plastic than fish by 2050. A massive 50 per cent of the plastic we use is single use so making simple changes could drastically reduce the amount of plastic pollution we produce."

The Environmental Investigation Agency said: "Addressing the plastic problem requires a fundamental rethink of modern consumerism, not just fast-fix solutions. It requires us to challenge the prevailing convenience culture and over-consumption that drive so many of the world’s environmental challenges."