Liberal Democrat councillors Garth Harness (Saddleworth North) and Diane Williamson (Crompton) will be proposing a motion to Oldham council on Wednesday 14^th December 2016 calling on the council to help reduce packaging and improve recycling.

 Councillor Garth Harkness said “ There are 2.5 billion paper coffee cups thrown away each year and hardly any of them are recycled. There are specialist facilities that can be used but only about 0.25% are. There is too much packaging on food products that can’t be recycled and we need to do more to work with these companies across Greater Manchester to address the issue”

 A co-ordinated effort needs to be explored to cut the resources of providing our food and drink

 Councillor Diane Williamson said “WRAP look at improving resource efficiency. We should consider the merits of the council being a signatory of WRAPs’ Courtauld Commitment 2025. The aim is to get better value and reduce waste involving food production. ASDA, Aldi and Boots are among a number willing to commit already”. 

 Councillor Garth Harkness added “We need to work with local coffee outlets to encourage them to adopt recyclable cups, provide on-site recycling facilities, and offer discounts to customers bringing their own cup. “

 The production of bottled water necessitates wasteful processing, bottling and transportation, and when its consumption leads to the discarding of millions of plastic bottles

 Councillor Diane Williamson ended “We should look at promoting the provision of public drinking fountains and free drinking water in all catering outlets and schools.