SDLP councillor Angela Dobbins proposed motion at local council
DERRY City and Strabane District Council has unanimously approved an SDLP motion to remove dangerous plastics from the local waste system.
Cllr Dobbins said: “I am absolutely delighted that Derry City and Strabane District Council has unanimously approved my motion to remove damaging plastics from our waste-stream.
“This is a small but significant step towards becoming zero waste.
“My motion proposes that councils should take the first step by removing single use plastic (such as bottle, cups, cutlery and straws) from council offices and facilities.
“Council has now backed the SDLP call to work towards becoming a ‘single-use-plastic-free’ authority in the next five years. This means locally Derry City and Strabane will be leading the way.
“We know that massive financial savings can be made by Council and ratepayers simply by reducing the amount of waste we create and dispose of.
“That’s why it’s so important we progress to zero waste to help our environment but also to identify new resource for investment locally.
“The SDLP have a strong record of protecting our environment. When Mark H Durkan MLA was Environment Minister, he worked closely with Zero Waste NW to ensure that the research and report were funded – seeing clearly the important environmental improvements and exciting economic opportunities that the move towards a circular economy could create.
“Our children are becoming the eco warriors of their own future creating positive ripples in our environment and one day we all hope to have a waste free circular economy.
“We all have power when we own our actions, and their consequences, lets be part of the solution not part of the problem.
“Now with other parties backing our initiative we believe that we can work together to get a greener, cleaner Derry and reap the financial benefits as a result that can be invested into local services.”
