Single use plastics will be banned from future Douglas Council events starting from this year.

The council has agreed to hold a trial where single use plastics will be banned from events such as the Noble’s Park Fun Day.

Action was taken after the council’s executive committee considered a written report by the director of environment and regeneration seeking agreement on how single use plastics could be phased out, both at council events and at events held on council-owned land.

The council’s environmental policy includes a commitment to use reasonably practicable means to reduce the authority’s carbon footprint, improve recycling, minimise waste, improve efficiencies, and to work with others to reduce the environmental impact of all its operations.

Initially, this ban will apply to vendors selling items at the fun day. The council noted that there are three suppliers in the island which sell non-single use plastic products and that ’the cost of which were, generally, on a par with the single use versions’.

Councillor Andrew Bentley, said the initiative was ’great’. However, he sought clarification on whether the fun day would be the first event to ban single use plastics, what types of stalls would be banned from using it, and if the ban included children’s light orbs or glow sticks.

Chairman of the committee, Council Leader David Christian, said that the Douglas Council ’may have to look’ at other concessions other than food stalls and would ’need to have discussions with vendors’.

Mr Christian also committed the council’s staff and any council run stalls/events to comply with the ban. He said: ’If we have adopted a policy, then we must follow it.’