Could Penryn become a bastion against a tide of plastic waste threatening Cornwall, Britain, and the planet?

Councillors have been told they could "put the town on the map" in pioneering new ways of saving the environment, similar to towns which first banned plastic bags.

Town councillors hope to aid conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) in revolutionising the way the UK thinks of recycling - albeit by reverting to a more traditional method of waste management.

The town has said it would like to support the charity's campaign to introduce bottle deposit schemes to the UK, incentivising recycling and cutting down on the thousands of bottles which end up littering the countryside each year.

Councillors voted to write a letter of support for SAS' Message in a Bottle campaign, to approach the Penryn Campus to discuss the potential for a deposit scheme trial, and also to look for partners willing to discuss the potential for setting up a scheme in Penryn.

Every day the UK population uses 38.5 million plastic bottles and 59 million cans, Andy Cummins of SAS told councillors on Monday night, and last year the charity's volunteers collected 20,000 single-use drinks containers at beach cleaning events. Meanwhile the Marine Conservation Society’s 2015 Beachwatch survey found an average of 159 plastic bottles for every mile of British beach, which can take up to 450 years to break down and eventually end up in the food chain as microscopic particles.

Councillors appeared taken with the idea of becoming the next Modbury - the Devon town that gained recognition after becoming the first place in the UK to ban plastic bags, eventually leading to widespread national reform.

Now the charity is lobbying the government to create a deposit system whereby every bottle sold has an added cost, which can be recouped at automated collection points.

Mr Cummins told councillors: "If we were able to use a closed community we would be able to use it as a pilot, and then we could really put the town on the map.

"Or at the university at the top of the hill. Looking at monitoring how effective it was."

The presentation came before a discussion of a possible waste reduction scheme for the town, and plans to review commercial recycling and encourage better waste management by residents.

Councillor Vicky Bennett asked councillors "where do we start with something like that."

And Councillor Martin Mullins said "you can teach people what to do.. but you can't make them do it," adding that if people weren't inclined to use bins it was difficult to force them, and children today are "too rich" for bottle deposits to work as an incentive.

However, Councillor Rich Mitchell said the SAS idea was "a good place to start," and proposed discussing a deposit scheme with FX Plus where they have a "closed system" in place with shops and recycling.

He also suggested talking to local shops, as getting a community engaged means "you can change things," and "the plastic bags thing shows that."

Councillor Mark Snowdon added: "This needs to be a 'we' [involving the whole community] we need to get some names to it," and Mrs Bennett suggested contacting Asda and Sainsbury's to get involved. Mr Mitchell said the town should begin looking for partners for the scheme and also put information about the campaign on its official correspondence, website and social media.

Mr Mullins also suggested promoting the scheme at the town Fair Day, or at a separate event involving a group of stakeholders.

Following the discussion, main points agreed by councillors were to write an official letter supporting the campaign, to open talks with the university about a pilot, and work as a town council to promote the SAS scheme.

As part of the waste management plan, it was also agreed to buy novelty bins to encourage children to properly dispose of rubbish.

For more information on the Message in a Bottle campaign or to sign the SAS petition, go to sas.org.uk/messageinabottle/