CARDENDEN is a community which is backing the fight to end plastic waste appearing everywhere.

The Compostable Bag Trial, which took place over the summer months in the village, has proved to be a great success.

The trial, sponsored by village based companies Purvis and RWE, with the backing of Fife Council Environmental Executive, Cardenden Community Council and local Councillor Rosemary Liewald, showed what real enthusiasm and concern there is for the massive issue of one-off plastics and how consumers can tackle it.

Councillor Liewald said: “The resounding opinion of our retail outlet managers and the shoppers in Cardenden is that they all want to do their bit to cut down on the use of these plastics.

"They can see the damage that it has caused. With companies such as Veg Ware, who supplied the bags for the trial, and others of this nature, now beginning to have a higher profile locally it is hoped that our retail users will switch to the likes of these as their first choice supplier".

Ms Liewald added: "I am delighted to hear this week that the Co-op supermarket is to replace all of its single-use plastic bags with bio-degradable alternatives which can also be used as compostable containers for food waste.

Cardenden Community Council chair, Dave Roy, added: “The community of Cardenden were more than happy to assist and support this trial.

"We can see the impact and the detrimental effect that the use of plastics is having on our environment, therefore at local level we can all send the message out that switching to biodegradable bags and other products is the way to go . Cardenden has shown that this is possible and we encourage other communities to follow on from this example “

The Co-op will remove 60 million plastic carrier bags from its shops as it rolls out the new version, beginning with 1,400 shops across England, Wales and Scotland, and then to all 2,600 premises.

The introduction of the bags is part of an “ethical strategy” the supermarket is launching which will aim to reduce environmentally damaging plastics with alternatives and also battle food waste.

"The price of food wrapped in plastic has become too much to swallow and, from today, the Co-op will phase out any packaging which cannot be re-used,” said Jo Whitfield, retail chief executive of the Co-op.

"The first step to remove single-use plastic will be to launch compostable carrier bags in our stores. They are a simple but ingenious way to provide an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags.

“The new bags will cost 5p, though the shop will continue to sell “bags for life” made of plastic at 10p, and even stronger bags for £1.The shop’s plans will see all its own-brand packaging become “easy to recycle” by 2023.

"It has promised to use a minimum of 50 per cent recycled plastic in bottles, pots, trays and punnets by 2021, and has said all its difficult to recycle own-brand black and dark plastic packaging, including black ready meal trays, will be eliminated by 2020".

The announcement comes the day after discount supermarket chain Lidl said it would remove all black plastic packaging from its fruit and vegetables by the end of the month, and all black plastic from fresh meat and fish by August 2019.

Last week Waitrose also said it was removing plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables and would be getting rid of 5p single-use plastic bags from its shops early next year.