I led a debate in parliament this week about government support for a circular economy.
This means how we pivot from decades of take-make-dispose to reuse, recycle, re-purpose. The debate was inspired by the work of Plastic Free Eastbourne brilliantly led by modest local hero Oliver Sterno who came up to the Commons to listen in.
Our refill stations was one initiative I raised. For a single-use plastic bottle of water, it takes five seconds to produce, five minutes to drink and can then stay in our environment for 500 years. Oliver would add it doesn’t end there and he’s right. Every piece of plastic that we have ever produced is still with us somewhere, as microplastics and even nanoplastics.
During the debate, one MP shared the staggering environmental impact of food waste. If food waste was a country, he said, it would be the third in the world for emissions.
This was brought home to me in a meeting earlier this week with company Too Good To Go, who, through an app, connect local people with local businesses offering up reduced price meals which would otherwise hit the bin.
Our Eastbourne stats illustrate the point. We have twenty eight registered stores who have collectively saved 28,102 meals, the equivalent of 156 days of constant warm showering. A strange comparison maybe but certainly illustrates waste. Our top saving store was the Toby Carvery in Langney.
And Food waste collection is coming to homes across Eastbourne. Simply introducing it has been shown elsewhere to reduce food waste created. There’s certainly more for us to aspire too. Our council’s recycling rate sits below the national average.
In a busy week in Parliament, I have had a run of ministerial meetings – notably with the Home Office about our hotels and the roads minister to discuss casework around anti-social behaviour on buses and how it can be addressed so people can travel with confidence.
I’m homeward bound on Thursday with a run of local meetings and events to look forward to, notably Age Concern’s 75th anniversary. A huge thank you to all involved today who provide such sterling support to people in our town.
