Penarth is to be awarded a 'plastic-free' status by a marine conservation charity at a special event attended by Olympic medallist Colin Jackson later today.

The town will receive the status given by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) for its campaign to tackle single-use plastic during Plastic Free Penarth's event at Penarth Pier.

Former Olympic sprint and hurdling athlete Colin Jackson with the Mayor of Penarth, Cllr. Jon Luxton, will present plaques to 12 local businesses awarded Plastic Free Champion status as part of the campaign.

Penarth is the 5th Welsh town and 60th overall town to earn a Plastic Free Communities Approved status after being recognised for tackling the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.

The local campaign was launched by Anthony Slaughter of Gwyrddio Penarth Greening (GPG), the leader of the Green Party in Wales and local resident. They worked together with other members of the community after an open GPG meeting on the issue attracted strong public interest.

Registering with the SAS Plastic Free Communities movement, Anthony pulled together key organisations and businesses in the town to put in place the five-point plan outlined by the SAS.

The plan objectives include: setting up a community led steering group, instigating the SAS Plastic Free Schools education programme, securing local council commitment and working with local businesses, organisations and community groups to spread the word and minimise the amount of disposable plastics they use. 

Anthony said: ''Support from the local community has been key to our campaign's success.

''This was an issue that was already a concern to many and they welcomed the opportunity to be involved with practical action to tackle the problem."

Gideon Calder, GPG chair and steering group member added: "We are delighted that the community's efforts to tackle this important issue have been recognised with the award of the SAS Plastic Free Community status.

''As a group we see this as the start of an ongoing campaign and next steps will include a project with local schools and working with local take-away food businesses to reduce the use of both single-use plastics and polystyrene packaging.

"Of course, Penarth will never be completely free of plastic, but this campaign will seriously reduce the use of polluting single-use plastics in our community.''

The campaign received strong support from local independent businesses, many of which were already taking steps to reduce their use of single-use plastics.

Alison Jones, owner of local eatery the Crepe Escape, had already replaced plastic straws, cutlery and cups in her business. She played an important role in the campaign steering group by engaging and encouraging other local businesses to follow suit.

Other local businesses also took action in a number of ways. For example, stopping the sale of drinks in plastic bottles, reducing or cutting out plastic packaging and much more.

Community groups and schools also supported the campaign, including a survey of local businesses undertaken by Penarth Youth Action and a beach-clean arranged by a Penarth scout group.

As part of the programme, Penarth Town Council pledged its support to the campaign and committed to reducing its own use of single-use plastic.

The Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Community network aims to free the places where we live from single-use. Using the five point plan the aim is to empower communities to kick start local grassroots action, which can then be built upon.  

The marine conservation charity, based in St Agnes, Cornwall, wants to unite communities to tackle avoidable plastic from the beach all the way to the brands and businesses who create it. It says it is not about removing all plastic from our lives, but kicking our addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it. 

Rachel Yates, SAS Plastic Free Communities Project Officer, said: "It's great to see the work that Penarth has done to reduce the availability of avoidable plastics, raise awareness and encourage people to refill and reuse. 

"We have over four hundred communities across the UK working to reduce single-use plastic and the impact it has on our environment.

"Every step those communities and the individuals in them take is a step towards tackling the problem at source, challenging our throwaway culture and encouraging the habit changes we need to see."

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