Plastic Bag Free – Meltham Initiative Notes of the Meeting held on the 8 March 2008 Meltham Methodist Church at 12noon Chair: Mr John Bakanoba MBE22 people attended the meeting. These included members of Meltham Town Council, the Women’s Institute, Meltham and Meltham Mills Band, local Churches, Meltham Fair-trade Group and local residents.
- The meeting began with Mr Bakanoba welcoming everyone to the meeting. A special welcome was extended to Mr. Nick Wright from Biopac (UK) Ltd. who had travelled to the meeting from Shropshire, Cllr. Duncan Crawshaw Chair of Meltham Town Council and Ms Kate Armstrong from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Thanks were given to the Co-op and Morrisons for their generous
sponsorship of the lunch. It was intended that the meeting would hear of issues that not only affect Meltham but the entire world. The focus was to be on “plastic,” mainly plastic carrier bags.
- A slide show presentation entitled ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ followed.
Nick Wright Marketing Manager from ‘Biopac (UK) Ltd’ gave a presentation highlighting the alternatives to plastic bags. There are alternatives to ‘plastic’ materials. These may be materials that have properties are fully:
Biodegradable, Compostable or Degradable.
- The following reasons for limiting the use of plastic material were explored:
a) We are running out of landfill sites for burying plastic material. b) We are running out of oil.c) The time it takes for some plastic to disintegrate; up to 1000 years in some instances.d) The health and safety hazards to marine and wildlife.e) The damage to the environment.
- Material used to make alternatives to plastic are:
a) Starched based polymersb) Cellulose.c) PLA (poly-lactic acid)d) Plant Fibre. Sugar cane and bulrush.e) Paperf) Polymer blends. 17 billion plastic bags are manufactured every year. Shopping bags can be made of cotton and jute. 5. Questions from the floor: a) Where can we buy biodegradable bin liners?These can be bought ‘on line’. Patrice Curtis offered to locate these items and look into making them available alongside fair-trade goods in the local churches. b) Do we need the amount of packaging that comes from supermarket goods and why do we need fruit and vegetables imported from abroad and overseas when similar products are out of season in this country? 5. John Bakanoba introduced a management ‘tool’ called CACI. ‘Common Approach to Continuous Improvement.’ This is a problem solving tool which may be useful in helping Meltham achieve the aim of a plastic bag free village. Following a discussion on how to progress it was decided to form a small group to take issues forward. Volunteer’s for this group are:Mrs. A. Evans (Resident), Mrs. J. Wrathall. Ms. E Rogan (Chamber of Trade) and Cllr. J. Powell Thanks were given to Mr Bakanoba, the Methodist Church, and Mr Wright for their input to the meeting. The meeting ended at 2pm.
Contact detailsBiopac (UK) Ltd. www.biopac.co.uk
Kirklees on line petition: www.bagfree08.wordpress.com
