Axminster is awarded 'Plastic Free Communities' status as it continues to take action to cut down on single-use plastic in the town.

The town has joined a network of communities across the UK who are leading the way to tackle throwaway plastic at source.

Axminster has been awarded Plastic Free Community status by marine conservation charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in recognition of the work it has done to start reducing the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.

The Plastic Free Axminster campaign was started in 2019 and had to take a back seat during Covid, but the steering group has continued apace since 2021.

The group passionately believes that plastic, especially single-use plastic and the world's addiction to it, is ruining our countryside, rivers, oceans and our own health.

They said: "It is not an environment we want to live in and it is the worst legacy we can leave successive generations. Forty per cent of plastic produced is for single-use; that is a horrifying statistic."

Registering with the SAS Plastic Free Communities movement, they worked together with key organisations and businesses in the town to put in place a five-point plan.

The objectives include setting up a community-led steering group, instigating the SAS Plastic Free Schools education programme, getting local council commitment and working with local businesses, organisations and community groups to spread the word and minimise the amount of disposable plastics they use.

The steering group has welcomed the enthusiastic support from all these different groups, including partnering with Axminster Nub News, and what they have all contributed to bring about this result for Axminster.

The group is delighted to have received this award on behalf of the town but acknowledge that no town will ever be completely plastic free, instead saying their campaign is "an ongoing journey".

The Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Community network aims to free the places where we live from single-use. Using the five point plan, the aim is to empower communities to kick start local grass roots action, which can then be built upon.

The marine conservation charity, based in St Agnes in Cornwall, says it wants to unite communities to tackle avoidable plastic from the beach all the way back to the brands and businesses who create it.

It says it is not about removing all plastic from our lives, but kicking our addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it.

Rachel Yates, SAS Plastic Free Communities project manager, said: "It's great to see the work that Axminster has done to reduce the availability of avoidable plastics, raise awareness and encourage people to refill and reuse.

"We have over eight hundred communities across the UK working to reduce single use plastic and the impact it has on our environment.

"Every step those communities and the individuals in them take is a step towards tackling the problem at source, challenging our throwaway culture and encouraging the habit and system changes we need to see."

For more information on the work of Plastic Free Axminster, together with eco tips and simple swaps that we can all make in our everyday lives, join their Facebook page.

They will also be launching their own website very soon.