Council in bid to bin plastic bags

OLDHAM could become free of plastic carrier bags if councillors’ thoughts are turned into action.

A group of councillors is studying how to minimise waste by encouraging people to switch to reusable bags.

The council was told earlier this year that one plastic bag takes 400 to 1,000 years to break down, and costs the council for landfill charges, as well as creating unsightly litter.

A handful of British towns have become plastic-bag free zones and have been inundated with requests for help to follow their example.

In February, Oldham’s overview and scrutiny committee was charged with devising a policy to cut down use of plastic bags, and has given the Safer and Stronger Communities Select Group the job of researching this.

The group meets on Monday to consider which potential witnesses to call, such as Friends of the Earth, Oldham’s refuse services, trading standards and the Government’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

The options it could consider include an Oldham bag for life, and awareness and press campaign, try a bag free initiative in part of the borough, lobbying retailers, and banning plastic bags from any council promotions.