NORTHWICH Business Improvement District (BID) is looking to launch an initiative aimed towards creating a plastic-free town.

This will involve local businesses removing at least 3 single-use plastic items from their usage over the coming weeks.

The target number of businesses to support the initiative is twelve, and it is hoped that they will replace the plastic items with sustainable alternatives.

Accredited by Surfers Against Sewage, the scheme will award supportive businesses with Plastic Free Champion window stickers and certificates once Northwich is officially recognised as a plastic-free town.

“Businesses who take part in the scheme will be surprised by how much they save in costs as well as dramatically reducing their waste,” said a Surfers against Sewage representative.

“Making suitable, sustainable alternatives readily available to customers will bring about a change in behaviour and reduce the amount of throwaway plastic in Northwich.

“Although plastic can be incredibly useful, we’re consuming it at a staggering rate and the big problem is that we use a high quantity of single-use plastics.

“The scheme is not about removing all plastic from our lives as we need it day-to-day for safety provisions, medical reasons and more, however we use lots of single-use plastic unnecessarily.”

An example of this is how a plastic bag is used on average for 15 minutes, yet could take between 100 and 300 years to fragment.

Stephanie Leese, Northwich BID business team co-ordinator, is hopeful that the campaign will be embraced by businesses in the town and has urged them to get in touch if they want to get involved.

“The Northwich BID would like to hear from any businesses in Northwich that have already made changes towards being more plastic free,” said Stephanie.

“We would also like to hear from any businesses who are interested in making changes going forward.”

For more information about Surfers Against Sewage, head to the official website at sas.org.uk.