“Don't Bank on Plastics!” urge campaigners this Plastic Free July

The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) has launched a new campaign – Don’t Bank on Plastics - calling on banks to limit their financing of the biggest plastic producers and polluters and play their part in ending the global plastic crisis. The campaign is part of ECCR’s Money Makes Change programme. 

High Street banks like Barclays, HSBC and NatWest provide finance to single-use plastic producers and to the plastic packaging industry and could play an important role in shaping a world free from plastic pollution.  

Individuals can contact their bank via the campaign page on ECCR's Money Makes Change online hub and ask them to take action on plastic pollution. 

Rosie Venner, Money Makes Change Programme Manager, said: 

“The global plastic crisis is threatening God’s creation. The way we produce and dispose of plastics is polluting oceans, endangering people’s health and fuelling climate change. 

Many of us – in our homes and churches – have cut down on single-use plastic packaging. This is important but it’s not enough. The system needs to change. 

Banks are heavily involved in financing and investing in the world’s biggest plastic producers and polluters. UK-based bank Barclays, for example, tops the list of banks financing single-use plastic waste (according to the Plastic Waste Makers Index). It doesn’t have to be this way. 

Banks have a vital role to play in tackling plastic pollution. As customers we can use our voice to call for change. We can ask banks to limit their financing of the biggest plastic producers and polluters, engage with companies for change, and play their part in ending the plastic crisis. 

Join us in speaking out for change, this Plastic Free July and beyond, by contacting your bank.” 

ECCR's Money Makes Change programme equips Christians and local churches to explore the connections between faith and money, make more ethical choices (from banking, to spending, to investing) and campaign for companies and the finance sector to put people and planet first. 

ECCR is a member of Break Free from Plastic, a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution.