Noel will be handing out copies of his report ‘Plastic not Fantastic’ which outlines the problem of plastic carrier bags.
Noel Lynch Green Assembly Member said, “Londoners alone use one billion plastic bags a year many of which are burnt, releasing toxic fumes or ending up in landfill sites. We need to look for alternatives before we are buried under a mountain of bags.”
As well as calling for people to use alternative such as reusable bags Noel is calling for a tax of 10p to be placed on all plastic bags to reduce the numbers being used.
“The idea of introducing a bag tax isn’t as unpopular as one might think”, said Noel “A recent MORI poll found that 63% of UK people would support a bag tax.
Noel, who originally hails from Ireland said, “Ireland recently introduced a very successful bag tax. In just three months the number of plastic bags being used have been reduced by a staggering 280 million. This equals a success rate of 95%. Money that is being raised is put towards the cost of environmental initiatives.”
Peter Polycarpou said, “We need to encourage people to change their mind-set. It is always tempting to pick up a plastic bag when out shopping but people need to understand that they are using up finite resources.”
Noel and Peter will be handing out copies of Noel’s new report on the issue, ‘Plastic not fantastic’ at Muswell Hill on Saturday 7th February at 11am.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
A copy of the report, ‘Plastic not Fantastic’ is available from the Green Group at the London Assembly. Please contact Orla Hurst on 020 7983 4411 or orla.hurst@london.gov.uk
ENDS
For more information please contact Penny Kemp 07711 760692