HUNDREDS of people from Penzance and beyond banded together at the weekend to stand up against plastic pollution with a ‘human chain’ as part of a national day of protests.

Part of The People vs Plastic campaign by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), Saturday’s protest saw 500 people joining to protect the ocean from plastic along the historic Penzance Promenade.

The aim is to take a stand against the plastic polluters and call for immediate action to turn the tide on plastic, end the consumer blame game, and make the profiteering polluters accountable.

People vs Plastic is SAS’s biggest anti-plastics campaign yet, and this was the charity’s biggest protest as part of the UK’s day of action – all led by their first ever plastic free community, Plastic Free Penzance.

Stretching across the promenade, the community shouted chants calling for an end to plastic pollution, with attendees invited to join a follow-on campaign, to demand immediate action with a Global Plastics Treaty.

Rachel Yates, from Surfers Against Sewage, said: “It was amazing to see so many people from the Penzance community come out and show the strength of feeling there is around single-use plastic in the town.

“Plastic Free PZ has been working for eight years now to reduce single-use plastic, and we’ve seen some massive successes. But ultimately we need producers and brands to stop producing single-use plastic and pumping it out onto communities.

“We need decision-makers to enable a system that stops production of single-use plastic and creates a circular economy. So, now that we’ve shown the strength of feeling in the community, we’re going to be taking that community voice to power.

“We will be represented at the Global Plastics Treaty through Surfers Against Sewage, and we will be continuing to campaign to call on the UK decision-makers to stand up for a cleaner future.”

SAS’s People vs Plastic campaign is calling on the UK Government to step up and introduce an ambitious Global Plastic Treaty. It’s demanding full commitment to changing the law to bring about a circular economy and hold polluters to account – without any more delay.