Does Devon County Council local authority procure plastic bottles for use in local authority premises; if so, how many per year over the last 5 years?
No, they are purchased by Devon Norse, the Devon County Council facilities contractor. We can confirm that in 2017 Devon Norse purchased 114,229.
How many or what percentage of the plastic bottles used within Devon County Council local authority are recycled and how many go to landfill?
Devon County Council do not hold this information. We can confirm that a majority of staff do have a mixed plastic recycling collection available to use. A waste audit of County Hall in 2013 showed that 53% of mixed plastic was captured for recycling.
Does the Council have a specific policy relating to plastic bottle usage among Council staff and elected officials? If so, please provide further details.
No. We have adopted a Plastic Strategy that commits to remove all single-use plastic, food and beverage packaging and tableware by 2020. This can be viewed online at https://www.devon.gov.uk/environment/environmental-policy
Does the Council have a specific policy relating to plastic bottle usage at premises owned or leased out to 3rd parties? If so, please provide further details.
Yes as discussed in our response to the above question relating to premises owned by Devon County Council. The strategy described above aims to raise awareness across Devon of the issues surrounding plastic. However, we should clarify this is not applicable to premises leased out to third parties.
Is the Council engaged with any local initiatives to reduce plastic bottle waste? If so, please provide further details.
Yes the council promotes the Refill Devon scheme. More details can be found online at https://www.recycledevon.org/RefillDevon