Greater Manchester pledges to stamp out plastics

Bars, clubs and hotels across Greater Manchester are being urged to ditch plastic straws, in favour of compostable and biodegradable alternatives.

It is part of a city-wide pledge to ditch single-use plastics.

High profile names from the hospitality and tourism industry launched the campaign, backed by Mayor Andy Burnham.

The campaign is set to put Greater Manchester at the forefront of taking action to eliminate single-use plastics. The campaign targets businesses and local people, encouraging them to make the shift away from single-use plastics to renewable alternatives.

“People have been horrified by the images on our televisions"

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “People have been horrified by the images on our televisions showing just how polluted our oceans and rivers have become through plastic waste. But this isn’t just happening on the other side of the world. Last week we heard the difficult news that Greater Manchester’s rivers were some of the most polluted. It’s clear that we cannot just carry on as usual – the time has come for action.

“Greater Manchester is a region renowned for innovation – we’re large enough to experiment at scale, yet small enough to come together and innovate at speed. Just look at what we’re doing today – the Green Summit is a unique event that’s brought all sorts of people together to reduce our carbon emissions, crowdsource ideas to make Greater Manchester one of the greenest city-regions in Europe.

“I’m proud that major figures from Greater Manchester’s hospitality and tourism industry have chosen the Green Summit as a platform to launch this campaign that could help make Greater Manchester the first UK city-region that eliminates single-use plastics. It’s got my full support

The plan has the backing of campaign groups in Greater Manchester.

"We've seen first hand the impact of plastic on the oceans. You see it when you're diving...plastic bags floating like jellyfish"

SeaStraw launched just a few months ago, founded by Doug Robertson - a scuba diver - and his friends, who are underwater photographers, after they noticed how polluted the oceans were.

"We've seen first hand the impact of plastic on the oceans. You see it when you're diving...plastic bags floating like jellyfish. In the UK you only have to go for a walk to see cotton wool bud plastic sticks everywhere and straws and bottles."

SeaStraw have already managed to get more than 30 businesses to sign up to their pledge to go plastic free.