On 16th January 2020, I shared the platform at Westminster Insight's Managing Plastic Waste Forum - a national policy event with a number of distinguished speakers, including representatives from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Friends of the Earth, Suez Recycling and Recovery and Surfers Against Sewage.
The focus of the event was "Eliminating Single-Use Plastic" and, in particular, how public and private sector collaborations are developing successful strategies to create responsible, plastic-free towns and businesses. I was, therefore, able to present the work of Sustainable Merton very easily - we do everything in partnership!
Using our Community Champions and Business Champions model I was able to illustrate how we work with Merton Council on their Climate Action Plan and environment plans, how we work with the Chamber of Commerce and business improvement districts on initiatives such as #PlasticFeeMerton and Refill Merton - and most recently, launching Merton's Business Network for Climate Action, and how we get involved with events as well as run our own events, working with many local organisations - housing associations, XR, the National Trust, charities - and so the list goes on. Attending the event highlighted to me the fantastic work that both residents and businesses are doing at a grassroots level, whilst the long-awaited policies embraced within the Environment Bill get debated, consulted on and refined.
Diana Sterck
CEO, Sustainable Merton