Sustainable Plymouth

Living today with tomorrow in mind

Sustainable development is about ensuring we have a better quality of life now and for the future whilst protecting and improving our environment. We are playing a leading role in helping the city to become a more vibrant place to be while living within our environmental limits.

As a local authority, we want to change and improve the way we do things. We need to be smarter and improve the way we deliver services. We also need to save money, reduce risks, improve resilience to change, improve standards and meet our targets in the most environmentally sustainable way.

In practice, achieving a better quality of life in Plymouth is about:

• Good quality education, jobs, services, housing and leisure facilities
• A healthy environment
• Being fulfilled, healthy and enough money to enjoy life
• A democratic and inclusive community life

The city's major focus over the next few years is to look after our environment and reduce the use of natural resources. This will mean:

• Adapting to and mitigation against climate change and protect and improve air quality
• Protecting our water resources and water quality
• Reduce, reuse and recycle waste
• Conserve and enhance wildlife

Sustainable procurement

We are commitment to sustainable procurement.

It is important for the environmental impact of goods, products and services to be assessed against other requirements such as value for money, cost effectiveness and legal compliance.

Recent changes to our supply of recycled paper provide a good example of the decisions that are needed and the criteria to be considered. The chosen alternative provides use with a 'greener' product for the same price and the opportunity to promote the use of 100 per cent recycled paper and its reduced carbon footprint. The background to the chosen products is set out in the report below.

Environment Policy

To ensure we can lead Plymouth in achieving a better quality of life, the Council has to set an example. The Environment Policy below sets out how we are planning to do this.