A new scheme is being launched to celebrate businesses in the island that have removed the use of single use plastic items.

The Plastic Free Business Scheme will be run by beach cleaning charity Beach Buddies, in collaboration with the government.

Businesses that join the scheme will be presented with certificates and window stickers to display, and provided with support and advice in making practical changes.

The stickers will make businesses easily identifiable to potential customers, allowing the public to make informed choices about the businesses they support.

This scheme forms part of the Single Use Plastic Reduction Plan for the Isle of Man Community, and launches in celebration of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science.

The scheme comes ahead of proposed legislation which will ban many single use plastic items including: plates, plastic carrier bags, stirrers, straws (with necessary exceptions such as medical use), cutlery and polystyrene food containers for immediate use.

The legislation would also ban ’the manufacture, sale and distribution of rinse-off personal care products that contain plastic micro beads’.

In recent years, researchers have emphasised the role of micro-plastics as one of the greatest threats facing marine life, as the amount of ocean pollution recorded around the world rises year on year.

Micro-plastics â?? which are classed as plastic particles less than five millimetres in diameter â?? are having a particularly profound impact on the environment.

Micro-plastics are generally created when larger plastic items make their way into the sea and are then eventually broken down over time.

They are particularly harmful as once they are in the ocean, they can be ingested by marine life who mistake the particles for food.

It is hoped the scheme will not only celebrate those businesses in the island who have already removed these single use items, but it will also showcase organisations that have made efforts to further reduce other single use plastic items, such as removing sauce sachets, providing water bottle refills or buying concentrated versions of cleaning products to reduce packaging.

Businesses can register as either ’Supporting’ or ’Plastic-free’.

’Supporting’ businesses will have removed a variety of single-use plastic items, while ’plastic-free’ businesses will have removed all unnecessary single use plastics from their day to day activities.

The Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, Geoffrey Boot said: ’This scheme will celebrate the businesses that are making huge strives to reduce plastic litter, and marine pollution in our Biosphere, and will hopefully encourage others to follow suit.

The founder of Beach Buddies, Bill Dale added: ’Many cafes, bars and food outlets in the island have already chosen to go plastic-free, but many have not, so a project like this makes a lot of sense and will hopefully encourage everyone to get involved.’