Phase Out Single-Use Plastics in Tower Hamlets

On the 1st October 2018, Councillor Edgar was part of an event called ‘Don’t Let Our Future Go To Waste’, which proposed to tackle some of the Borough's concerns about waste management, pollution and the impact of the Council’s activities on the environment, in a practical and meaningful way.

At that event, Tim Kiely of the Tower Hamlets Green Party asked the Councillor and panel whether or not the Council was going to phase out or ban the use of single-use plastics by Tower Hamlets Council, such as those used in plastic bottles, cups, plates and drinking straws, where it is reasonable to do so.

A few concrete examples of what this might involve would include:
- installing public drinking fountains that could be used to refill reusable water bottles;
- encouraging the use of reusable cups and bottles in council buildings rather than plastic or polystyrene ones; and
- giving local businesses the financial assistance they need to transition from plastic bags and packaging to paper or other materials, as well as reducing the use of plastic in their supply chains.

At the event itself the Councillor said that he "saw no reason why we wouldn’t" at least consider the proposal.

Resolutions such as this one have already been passed and are being implemented by a number of Councils in England and Wales, with cross-party support. These include in the Councils of Solihull, Brighton, Penzance, Trafford, Norwich, Surrey, Glastonbury, Mendip and Frome.

The event on the 1st October 2018 was a welcome effort by the Council to engage with these questions, and residents took the opportunity to make their concerns known.

The Tower Hamlets Green Party now intends to make sure that you keep these concerns at the top of the Council's agenda.

We are calling on the Council could provide us with a concrete resolution to phase out or ban single use plastics by the Council.