Litter is a constant burden to local authorities and their communities, scarring to the eye, distressing to residents and certainly damaging to wildlife.
30 million tonnes of litter are collected from our streets every year - enough to fill four Wembley Stadiums. In 2022, litter cost the UK £669 million, costing each household £30 per year according to UK government statistics.
The most commonly littered item is cigarette butts, found on 79% of sites. The next three most littered items, all 'food and drink on the go' related, are confectionery packs (found on 60% of sites), soft drink bottles and cans (52%) and fast-food related litter (33%).
At least one item of litter is found on every 50cm of beach.
In rural areas, particularly along roads and nearby hedgerows, layers of litter are developing over decades of people in cars, vans etc chucking litter from vehicles and or in laybys.
Fines for littering are small compared to the degree of the problem. For 2021/22, 23,700 (26%) of fixed penalty notices were issued specifically for small scale fly-tipping, 42,500 (47%) in relation to littering, 5,900 (6%) in relation to household duty of care and 19,000 (21%) in relation to other waste offences.
Local Councils throughout the country are budget constrained yet littering continues apace.
Thanet District Council (TDC) have a great officer liaising with schools to highlight the issues relating to litter – well done, TDC. The Ramsgate Litter Forum has been in existence since 2018 and brings together TDC, Ramsgate Town Council and community groups to tackle litter in Ramsgate. The Forum takes part in Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Big Spring Clean – taking place in March this year – with each group leading a different session to tackle a local ‘grotspot’. The Ramsgate Litter Pickers group (find them on Facebook) runs regular litter picking sessions throughout the year – as do several Ramsgate ward councillors.
But it should not be down to volunteers again and again to help reduce the litter that just continues apace.
The government has finally stopped businesses using some types of single use plastics (see separate article in this magazine) and is considering action on disposable vapes – items appearing increasingly in the litter picker’s haul.
We need to see more government action to reduce packaging, and not allow them to be constantly influenced by the interests of the packaging industry. Large corporates like Nestles, Cadbury, Unilever, crisp and other confectionary producers etc continue to sell products with largely unbiodegradable/compostable packaging creating a time bomb for future generations, blighting the environment and adding to the mix of issues that are causing the demise of this planet’s diversity week on week, month on month, year on year.
The UK government should act like France which has banned plastic packaging on 30 fruits and vegetables. Spain, Portugal and Luxemburg will do the same this year –
www.everydayplastic.org/chooseloose