Shoppers in Calne are being encouraged to swop their plastic shopping bags for more sustainable and environmentally friendly ones during this Friday’s plastic bag amnesty day.

The Hills Group has donated 120 jute shopping bags to the Calne Environmental Network (CEN) who will offer them to shoppers outside Sainsbury’s in Calne from 10.30am to 3pm on Friday.

CEN members visited Hills’ materials recycling facility in Lower Compton where they were presented with the jute shopping bags by Henry Newbery, recycling area manager for Hills Waste Solutions.

Mr Newbery said: “Cutting back on single-use plastic bags reduces waste and saves valuable resources. Where plastic bags are used, the best advice is to always re-use them as many times as possible and then recycle them when they are worn out.”

Peter Knight, joint founder of the CEN, said: “Our aim is to make Calne a plastic bag free town. In addition to raising awareness amongst members of the public we will also be talking to shopkeepers and encouraging them to look at alternatives to plastic bags.”