Bakers Basco, the membership scheme set up by five of the UK’s largest plant bakers to provide and manage an industry-wide bakery equipment solution, has embarked on a company-wide initiative pledging its support to Canal & River Trust’s #PlasticsChallenge, to mark World Environment Day on June 5th, 2021.
As part of its commitment to the challenge, members of the Bakers Basco team have been scouring canals and waterways across the UK this week, collecting and disposing of plastic waste. This combined effort hopes to reduce the environmental impact of litter and help protect canals, rivers and wildlife in the local communities, with clean ups taking place across London, Rochdale, Newcastle, Manchester, Abingdon and Middlesbrough.
According to Canal & River Trust, each year an estimated 14 million pieces of plastic rubbish end up in and around our canals and rivers, with around 500,000 pieces flowing out into our oceans. For the #PlasticsChallenge campaign, it is encouraging individuals and businesses to help clean their local towpath and stop local litter becoming a global problem.
“We are well aware of the impact we have on the environment with our plastic usage – the difference being that our usage is part of the ‘circular economy’ and custom designed to be reusable and recyclable once it reaches the end of its useful life,” said Paul Empson, General Manager, Bakers Basco. “That said, it’s a constant battle to monitor and track our equipment to ensure that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands and diverted out of the supply chain. We wanted to get involved in the #PlasticsChallenge to show our commitment to contributing in a positive way to helping save the environment and I’m delighted that so many team members stepped up to the challenge – and came away with a lot to show for it.”
The Canal & River Trust campaign website is calling for support to: “Help protect our canals, rivers and wildlife from plastic pollution before it becomes part of the habitat forever. If every time we visited our waterways we picked up and disposed of just one piece of plastic, within a year there would be no plastic left.”
More than 2,740 pledges have been made so far. For more information or to pledge support for the #PlasticsChallenge, please visit: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/features/plastic-and-litter-in-our-canals.
