Public urged to cut back on the single-use plastic costing Norfolk nearly £3.5m per year

Norfolk's residents generate over 30,000 tonnes of single-use plastic, which costs the county council nearly £3.5m to dispose of.

The authority has launched a campaign called 'swap2save', challenging people to replace 12 of the most-common single-use plastics in everyday life.

Councillor Andy Grant, the cabinet member for environment and waste, said as well as saving money, it would help in the fight against climate change.

He said: "We know what a huge burden single-use plastics and products place on the planet.

"With a global problem it can seem tough to know where to start to help make things better."

The campaign video suggests items that can be used instead of plastics:

The 12 products being targeted by the campaign represent 14% of the county's household waste. In total they create 30,000 tonnes of rubbish a year costing £3.47m to get rid of.

Which items should we be replacing?

• Water bottles

• Sandwich packaging

• Wet wipes and cotton wool pads

• Throw-away coffee cups

• Plastic plant pots

• Disposable facemasks

• Crisp packets

• Sanitary products

• Nappies

• Disposable razors

• Clingfilm

• Balloons and sky lanterns

Read and watch more:

• Climate Crisis - Our Changing World, Episode 2: Hope for the future

• Fossil fuel emissions need to be slashed tenfold to tackle climate change

• Laura Tobin: Climate change is the biggest threat to global security