Campaigners call for county to lead the war on plastic pollution

With the nation gripped by a new momentum to tackle the environmental scourge of single-use-plastics head on, campaigners say Oxfordshire could and should be at the forefront.

Yesterday, Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced plans to ban the sale of plastic straws and drinks stirrers as part of a campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans.

Meanwhile this Sunday the world’s largest annual environmental movement, Earth Day, will urge people to pledge to reduce the amount of plastic they use.

There are also many in Oxfordshire who are doing their bit – perhaps most notably Oxford City Council’s announcement last month that it will phase out single-use plastics in its own buildings.

However, Chris Church of Oxford Friends of the Earth said in many cases it was a matter of ‘too much talking and not enough action’.

He said: “We are doing some very good stuff but I think too much of what is going on in Oxford is still in the talking stage.

“There’s still an awful lot of single-use plastics being used.

“It’s encouraging to see some of the initiatives but they haven’t made their way to the general consumer.

"It's up to the consumers to put pressure on the producers to come up with the solution that we need.”

He added: “Oxford has got more environmental groups per head of population than anywhere else in the country – we ought to be out in front but we aren’t."

Hazel Dawe of Oxfordshire Action on Plastic Pollution agreed.

Her group recently carried out a survey of Oxford cafes rating their use of plastics, and just two businesses – Turl Street Kitchen and Jericho Coffee Traders – scored top marks.

She said: “The plastics industry has convinced us there’s a need for all of these plastics but there are alternatives.

“I was surprised how many cafes, for instance, were still using plastic straws.

“There was one cafe that didn’t even know what we were talking about, so there is definitely room for improvement.”

The devastating effect plastics are having on the world’s oceans and wildlife was fired into the public consciousness by David Attenbrough’s Blue Planet programme, prompting many calls for more to be done to cut down, or even cut out, single-use plastics.

And Oxfordshire is by no means standing still when it comes to improving its plastic use.

Just this week a campaign was launched in Abingdon urging residents and business owners to become anti-plastic pioneers by cutting the amount used in their town.

Local coffee firm Bean Bags Coffee Company meanwhile, recently launched its own Oxfordshire-branded reusable takeaway coffee cup which it is hoping to stock in shops around Oxford and sell to local councils and hospitals.

Scientists at Harwell’s Diamond Light Source laboratory are approaching the problem from a novel angle by trying to engineer a plastic-eating enzyme to digest old bags and bottles.

However, Mr Church said there must be a more organised approach in order take advantage of the nation’s collective will to end the use of single-use plastics.

He said: “Concerns come in waves.

“We should use the fact that the public are interested as the basis for some real organised change.”

For more information on Earth Day and what you can do reduce plastic use visit earthday.org

A SCIENTIFIC SOLUTION?

OXFORDSHIRE scientists could be on the brink of a plastic pollution solution thanks to a recently identified bacteria which feeds on plastic.

Experts at Diamond Light Source, based at the Harwell Campus, have identified the inner workings of a unique bacterium, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, which was found ‘eating’ waste at an industrial recycling facility.

Scientists say new insight into an enzyme produced by the bacteria could lead to a global solution to plastic waste.

Using a high-powered laser, known as 123, at the facility, researchers were able to see the 3d structure of the enzyme in the bacteria which can degrade poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) – one of the most commonly used plastics.

The study was carried out in collaboration with scientists from the University of Portsmouth, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, the University of South Florida, and the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo.

Prof Andrew Harrison, CEO of Diamond (pictured below), said: “The detail that the team were able to draw out from the results achieved on the I23 beamline at Diamond will be invaluable in looking to tailor the enzyme for use in large-scale industrial recycling processes.

“The impact of such an innovative solution to plastic waste would be global.

“It is fantastic that UK scientists and facilities are helping to lead the way.”

Researchers found the chemical was likely to have evolved from another known enzyme, cutinase, but has developed a way to digest larger molecules such as those found in PET.

The scientists are working hard to harness the activity of the enzyme to combat the accruing mass of plastic waste, but they expect protein engineering will be needed to fully realise its potential.

In particular, the insights into its active site garnered from I23 will help when designing a highly-efficient plastic-degrading ‘machine’.

It is thought that tailored enzymes like these could be used for large-scale industrial recycling processes which would offer a solution to plastic waste.

The coffee cup problem

LOCAL firm Bean Bags Coffee Company launched its own Oxfordshire reusable takeaway coffee cup earlier this year and has been encouraged by the response.

Despite often being marked as recyclable, the majority of paper coffee cups end up on landfill or have to be incinerated due to the plastic lining used to make them waterproof.

The company's environmentally-friendly venture aims to cut down on the use of these disposable coffee cups while also donating all profits to green charity Wild Oxfordshire.

The £7 cups are already being sold by Café Loco in St Aldate’s, however, Dom Stanway-Williams of Bean Bags Coffee said that as well as encouraging people to buy them in the first place, the next problem was working out how to keep people using the cups.

The 27-year-old from Thame has now backed calls for a ‘latte levy’ which he said could solve the problem.

He said: “Once people have got the cups, how do you encourage them to use them?

“Coffee cups have been in the news when they were talking about the Latte Levy that was proposed and I think that’s something that should be brought in.

“They brought in the plastic bag tax and look how well that worked.”

The levy would see a 25p charge introduced on disposable coffee cups, however, the bid was not backed by ministers.

Starbucks has since announced a 5p cup charge in a number of central London outlets, while Costa this week pledged to recycle half a billion coffee cups a year by 2020.

In the UK, 2.5 billion disposable cups are thrown away each year, of which less than 0.25 per cent are recycled, according to the government’s Environmental Audit Committee.

The JohnRadcliffe Hospital, will soon be using the Oxfordshire-branded b=mugs, while the Museum Gift Shop at the Town Hall has already begun selling them.

For more information on Bean Bags Coffee visit https://www.beanbagscoffee.co.uk/

Calls for cafes to do their bit

OXFORD, with its many independent cafes and restaurants, is perfectly placed to dramatically cut its collective use of plastic, according to the founder one of the most environmentally-friendly cafés in the city.

Jericho Coffee Traders was awarded seven stars out of seven for its low use of plastics by the Oxfordshire Action on Plastic Pollution (APP) group during their survey earlier this month.

However, founder James Armitage said the problem was creating more awareness among business owners to affect change.

He said: “We’re working in an industry that doesn’t need to use a lot of plastic. The alternatives might be a bit more difficult to source but I think it’s more of an awareness of the alternatives that are available.”

Oxfordshire APP surveyed more than 50 cafes in Oxford and Abingdon to see how they were reducing plastic use with just two being awarded top marks.

Mr Armitage added: “With all of the independents in Oxford it means they don’t have to rely on head office to bring in the changes so we’re ideally placed really.”

'Breaking a habit of a lifetime isn’t easy'

North Oxfordshire MP Victoria Prentis has been vocal on the subject of plastics problem having written articles for local and national press on the subject.

Earlier this year, along with 40 other Tory MPs, Ms Prentis promised to give up single-use plastics for Lent, and encouraged others to do the same. 

Speaking to the Oxford Mail on Thursday she said: "Trying to give up single-use plastic for Lent proved to be a real challenge.

"From coffee cups to toothbrushes, yoghurt pots to bank notes, plastic has taken over our lives.

"Yet, as Blue Planet Two has shown us, plastic wreaks havoc on our environment.

"From individuals switching to reusable water bottles to supermarkets cutting down on plastic packaging, we can all do our bit to tackle the scourge of single-use plastic.

"Last September, I launched the “Refill” initiative in Bicester and Banbury. Support by BRITA and Cherwell District Council, participating shops and businesses displaying the Refill station sticker will top up customer’s water bottles.

"It is a simple scheme which could be replicated across Oxfordshire.

"With more than 500 million plastic straws a day used and then thrown away around the world, I hope pubs and other establishments in Oxfordshire can follow the example of Wetherspoons pubs including the Penny Black in Bicester, The Narrows in Abingdon and Company of Weavers in Witney who now only offer biodegradable straws. Another simple but effective solution.

"Breaking a habit of a lifetime isn’t easy, but the sustainability of our natural environment matters too much for us not to try."

The palace joins the battle

BLENHEIM Palace, is also joining the battle by bringing in a raft of environmentally minded changes – including phasing out all single-use plastics.

So far the palace’s eateries have replaced all plastic straws with paper ones, no plastic water bottles are being sold on site and water is only available in glass bottles – which are made up of 80 per cent recycled glass.

Cafés have also reduced use of disposable coffee cups by investing in crockery cups, while take-away cutlery and containers are now bio-degradable.

Sustainability Advisor Jacqueline Gibson added: “We are trialling the use of a fully biodegradable ‘plastic bag’ style bag in our retail shop, while offering paper bags for smaller purchases.”

The UNESCO World Heritage site has also been working with suppliers and event providers to reduce the amount of SUP entering through palace gates in the first instance.