Plastic-Free Greater Manchester

Manchester, UK

About the city. Greater Manchester is a region renowned for innovation. The municipality authorities actively support business initiatives. There are several environmental campaigns in the region, including Plastic-Free Greater Manchester.

Goal

The main aim is to make Greater Manchester the first UK city-region to drive down single-use plastics, to move organisations in this sector towards more sustainable alternatives and pledge to take action to reduce consumption across Greater Manchester.

Implementation period. The campaign was proposed in 2018. Greater Manchester’s tourism and hospitality sector was supposed to eradicate the use of single-use plastics by 2020.

Fact

According to a study conducted at the University of Ghent in Belgium in late 2014, Brits who consume fish are at risk of consuming 11,000 fragments of plastic each year. Moreover, Greater Manchester’s rivers were some of the most polluted.

Solutions

PlasticFreeGM works in terms of avoidable single-use plastics (straws, stirrers, takeaway containers and cutlery, etc) and offers advice and guidance on how to make more sustainable, low carbon choices. Here are the main projects:

1. The Manchester Bee Paper Straw is offered at a specially discounted price for hospitality operators from local catering supplier Stephensons. Straws are printed with soy ink and made from food-safe, sustainable paper. Moreover, it’s also FSC certified, recyclable and much stronger than many paper alternatives.
2. Fountains or Refill Stations in public places. Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and United Utilities have joined forces with Refill Manchester to make free tap water accessible throughout the whole region. The aim is not to buy plastic bottles, but to replenish water supplies using their fountains. Over 20,000 locations have joined the Refill revolution.

Key comments about Plastic-Free Greater Manchester

• The user/company can fill out an application and sign the pledge on the project’s website. With the permission of the company, the brand logo will be displayed on the project’s website.
• Important to highlight that the business initiative is voluntary, based on its own desire to help the environment and the municipality.
• Local authorities provide information support, but no financial support.
• The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is responsible for compliance with the relevant Data Protection requirements for processing personal data.

Team

Hotel Football owner, Gary Neville, launched the campaign “Plastic-Free Greater Manchester”. He was also joined by 43 other business leaders from the hospitality sector at the initial stage. Mayor Andy Burnham supported the tourism sector from the first steps of the project.

The PlasticFreeGM campaign is delivered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in partnership with many organisations and individuals across Greater Manchester.

Timeline

In 2018, 43 commercial companies participated in the project. As of April 2020, the project values are shared by more than 550 companies not only from the hospitality sector but many others.

If you notice an error or inaccuracy in our editorials, please email [email protected] so we can look into it.