Southend-on-Sea has been chosen as the only town in the UK to take part in PlastiCity, an Interreg-funded research project, designed to reduce the amount of commercial and industrial plastic waste going to landfill. Our aim at PlastiCity is to increase the amount of recycled commercial and industrial plastics in the 2 seas region (UK, Belgium, France, Netherlands) from 20-30% to over 50%. As part
of this, the team are in the process of visiting local businesses and schools to gather data on the type and quantity of plastic generated. The purpose is to look at the plastics that pass through these organisations which can be used to identify ways to reduce single-use plastics, as well as improve plastic recycling. How will Southend benefit from PlastiCity? Eventually, a local “circular economy” will be developed where schools and businesses work together with plastic recyclers to discover opportunities for recycling.This will improve the living conditions of more than half a million residents in the 2 Seas region byreducing the amount of plastic pollution. There are tons and tons of plastic in the ocean. It eventually breaks down into smaller pieces but never goes away completely. Marine animals eat it and become sick or die. It also entangles andinjures them, making it difficult for them to swim or fly. Unknown numbers of animals die this way each year and toxins from the plastics that marine animals have eaten are beginning to make their way into our food stream.
