Uniting to tackle the blight of litter

Hilary Benn and countryside campaigner Bill Bryson have teamed up with fast food, fizzy drink and chewing gum industry giants to cut litter.

Executives from McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Wrigley’s today met with government representatives, members of Keep Britain Tidy, local councils, and campaign groups.

As president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Mr Bryson, a travel writer, has campaigned to stamp out the blight of wrappers and packaging along footpaths, roads, and hedges across the country.

Environment Secretary Mr Benn said:

“Cleaning up street litter costs all of us nearly £800million a year. I’ve seen hardworking street cleaners in action this morning – but we all share responsibility for tackling litter, whether that’s government, business or individuals.

“There’s no reason to drop litter in the first place and no-one should have to live with dirty streets, so it’s up to us to change things.”

More than 30 million tonnes of litter are collected from the streets of England every year, according to Keep Britain Tidy.

Bill Bryson, Campaign to Protect Rural England President, said:

“Litter is a blight on what is some of the most beautiful landscape in the world.

“We desperately need a committed agreement between government and the private sector to get Britain clean again everywhere.”

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act in 2005 gave local authorities extra powers to improve local environment quality including making it easier to issue fixed penalty notices.

26 March 2010