About the Movement

Plastic Free Communities is a nationwide people-powered movement dedicated to breaking free from single-use plastic and stopping its production for good.

Shaped and run by Surfers Against Sewage, it unites and fires up individuals, businesses and local organisations to fight back against plastic pollution, with clear actions and steps to make a difference.

Today, one in every ten barrels of oil is used to create new plastic. 38.5 million plastic bottles are bought every day in the UK, with the nation producing 5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year.

Thanks to big businesses endlessly pushing it on us, we’re caught in a single-use plastic trap and it’s choking the planet. Because if it’s on our streets today, it’s in our rivers tomorrow, and the ocean forever.

We’re here to change that.

We started Plastic Free Communities in 2017 with one goal. To take action on the ground that triggers change at the top; targeting virgin and throwaway plastic and its producers by bringing the battle to the decision makers and holding them to account.

Initially a handful of people doing great work, now we’re 831 networked communities across the UK and counting. A people-powered movement of supercharged plastic fighters with single-minded focus and a distinct voice, taking clear actions to make a difference.

From our shared streets, green spaces and waterways, to the companies, brands and branches of Government with the power to stem the flow, we’re unlocking long lasting ways to change the system and turn the tide – one plastic bottle at a time.

It starts here and it starts with us. And if you’re still reading this, that means you too.