The managing director of recycling company Viridor has put forward an initiative to ensure that all plastic consumed in southwest England and South Wales, plastic collected from local government roadsides, plastic from beach cleaning and garbage collection will be sent to companies capable of recycling.

Viridor brought together 150 Representatives from local governments, trade agencies, recyclers and reprocessers, packaging manufacturers, consumer brands, retail and beach cleaning NGOs to consider Phil Piddington's initiative. "Recycling waste - making plastics work for Southwest and South Wales" was recently held in Bristol.

"We know that the region is investing in the innovation needed to move plastics away from the natural environment and back to a circular economy," Piddington said

Viridor is investing £ 65m in the UK's largest multi plastics recycling and reprocessing plant to help manufacturers use recycled plastics rather than raw materials. But it's not just about one company. The success of this project lies in cooperation, which can be led by the region and replicated in the UK and around the world.

"If we put our infrastructure and expertise, and most importantly our will, together, we can ensure that plastic products do not escape this mechanism. This is our solution to plastic pollution. This is everyone's concern and responsibility. We want to do our part to show real leadership. "

Professor Richard Thompson, head of the international marine litter research group at the University of Plymouth, said: "there is no single solution to the problem of plastic pollution. But recycling waste plastics is a key priority. In order to help increase the proportion of waste plastic recycling, we need to involve people in the supply chain from the design stage to the use and disposal stage, so as to ensure that the items are effectively recycled at the end of use. "

"In recent years, the public's perception of plastics has changed dramatically to the extent that misinformation about widely recycled plastics is having unintended consequences for resource efficiency and climate change. However, one thing is clear - cooperation is an effective way to keep plastics away from our natural environment and continue to flow in the circular economy, which is the theme of this conference. "

Alice harlock, member and service manager of on packaging recycling label, said: "well designed plastic packaging has played a great role on the earth, preventing 97% of the greenhouse gas emissions related to food that we may produce and consume in packaging food, while the greenhouse gas emissions of packaging itself are less than 3%. But we still need plastics to be reused and recycled correctly and more frequently. "