Plastic Free Status for Penarth

Penarth Assembly Member Vaughan Gething has welcomed news announced today that Penarth has achieved Plastic Free Status.

The area has been given the status by marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). To earn its plastic free status, Penarth had to achieve five targets, which demonstrate its commitment to reducing the use of plastics. It has meant having to lobby and encourage businesses to ban single use plastics, encourage residents to reduce their plastic consumption, educate local schools about the issue and positive action such as beach cleans, fundraisers and other awareness raising events.

Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans. In the UK, approximately 5000 items of marine plastic pollution have been found per mile of beach and on average over 150 plastic bottles can be found on each mile of UK beaches.

Vaughan Gething AM said: “This is testament to the hardwork of local volunteers. It demonstrates that people in Penarth care deeply about this issue and are ready to work together to solve it. It has been a genuine community effort with everyone, in particular local businesses, playing their part. We have a wonderful stretch of coastline and we all wish to protect it”.