HNC JOINS THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTIC

05.03.2024

HNC has revealed that staff and students will be taking part in the national Big Plastic Count which runs 11 – 17 March. During this week thousands of schools, households and organisations up and down the UK will be coming together to count their plastic waste and discuss the part they can play in solving the problem with plastic.

HNC is working to become a greener College, and encouraging all of its community to consider the ways plastic usage can be reduced, and items recycled more. The College encourages students to commit to making small changes, which when employed collectively, can lead to a significant change.

Throughout the week everyone will be keeping a tally of their plastic waste. The results of this will be shared with The Big Plastic Count, who will then work out how much plastic waste is leaving UK households, the type of plastic being thrown away and help them identify what really happens to different types of packaging after it’s disposed of.

The College’s Student Green Group will be in the Junction on Tuesday with members of staff talking to students about why this national investigation is so important, the current plastic crisis and to develop understanding of how not all plastic is always ‘bad plastic.’ You can view a collection of promotional posters produced by Green Group member Kayleigh in the gallery below.

Claire Coupland, Assistant Principal comments: “As a College we are working hard to help students understand how they can be the difference they want to see in the world, including through how they can live a greener lifestyle. While the Global Plastics Treaty may be an opportunity to solve the current plastic crisis, it is crucial that we all take action now by looking at how we can individually and collectively recycle more and reduce waste.”

“As a College we understand that plastic is a part of every day life, but there are some shocking statistics around recycling – for example, just 12% of plastic packaging is recycled in the UK. While as a College our waste is recycled as far as possible, it still remains true that there are certain types that can’t be recycled. This is where we can also have impact – if our 2700 strong community commits to avoiding single use plastic for example, imagine the difference we can make just as a College! There is so much that we can all do that takes minimal effort, and has very little impact on our day to day lives. By participating in the Big Plastic Count, we hope to be able to reflect on how it easy to forget just how much plastic is in our lives, and talk about the simple ways we can reduce our plastic waste.”

The College has created its own editable form to avoid the need for printed which can be accessed via the year group teams or via the link below, please return all completed tally sheets to C.Coupland@huddnewcoll.ac.uk  

You can read more about the Big Plastic Count here.