13 months, 13 achievements: Hackney Labour’s #WarOnPlastic
Since the 2018 London council elections, Hackney have identified 13 actions they’ve taken as part of their war on plastic over the course of 13 months.
1. Introduced more water fountains in the borough, five in partnership with the Mayor of London and more public water fountains through our libraries, leisure centres and community halls in development.
2. Produced a Sustainable Procurement Strategy to make our procured goods and services delivered more sustainably, and remove superfluous plastics from our council purchasing.
3. Removed single-use plastics from our catering contract.
4. Developed an estate-based ‘reverse vending’ pilot – rewarding those who reduce, reuse and recycle.
5. Removed single-use plastic bottles from the Hackney Half Marathon – now the UKs largest plastic bottle-free running event – averting the use of 225,000 bottles in just one day.
6. Pledged to produce a plastics policy in the 2018-2022 term.
7. Held the Council’s first zero plastics event with Hackney Sustainability Day 2018.
8. Launched our first zero waste hub ─ a free community pop-up for residents to reuse, repair and learn new skills to help grow the circular economy in Hackney.
9. Secured a site to developed an object-lending library in the first term.
10. Helped launch the Real Nappies Bill ─ a Bill containing an incentive for local authorities across the UK to provide reusable nappy vouchers and more information for parents which has helped Hackney avoid 1,300 tonnes of disposable nappies in the borough and save families £1.5 million.
11. Responded to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s inquiry into plastics, and urged the government to introduce the ‘producer pays’ principle in their recycling strategy ─ where producers of single-use plastics pick-up the bill for the waste they cause.
12. Eliminated single-use plastics from the Hackney Council Service Centre cafe, avoiding 120,000 items of single-use plastic a year.
13. Developed a Hackney Low Plastic Zone where people will be able to obtain a wide-variety of plastic-free goods.
