Rubbish Roundup 23rd October

Rubbish Roundup 23^rd October

2 women are being investigated by Police after being reported for dropping fast food litter. CCTV images of the women throwing litter out of a car while parked in a retail park were sent to Police in Barrow, Cumbria. The images then viral as someone posted them on twitter, saying “Two girls finished their KFC, dumped their rubbish on the ground and drove off.”

The police stated they would look into the incident and have encouraged anyone that witnesses such behaviour to report it to them on social media, using the hashtag #idiotswhodroplitter

People who litter and don’t pay their fine in Thurrock face getting a criminal record. The council stated they were stepping up efforts to prosecute those responsible, and this comes after more than 25 people were prosecuted for non-payment of fines. The council say they are coming down hard on people who spoil local areas, as there is no excuse for throwing litter on the ground. The council’s initiative to tackle litter is called clean it, cut it, fill it and you can find out more on their website at www.thurrock.gov.uk/cleancutfill

People in Blackburn who allow their dogs to foul and fail to clear it up will face on the spot fines. The council has launched a crackdown and has equipped staff with body cameras to capture evidence against offenders prior to them receiving a fixed penalty notice.

The council are working with Kingdom Environmental Enforcement Services to catch perpetrators in the act. Fines for dog fouling will be £100, though this will be reduced to £75 if the fine is paid within 10 days.

The crackdown will be piloted for the next 12 months, and the cost of paying for enforcement staff will be met from the income gained from the fines.

The council say they understand that the fines and warnings apply to a minority of people, but that enough is enough, and they have had to toughen their stance.

A charge on single use coffee cups would have to reach 50p before it had an effect, according to Keep Britain Tidy. Surveys have suggested that a charge on coffee cups would have to reach that amount before people had to either use a reusable cup or be unwilling to pay. This might form the basis of a new strategy to reduce the staggering 2.5 billion cups that are thrown away each year.

Coffee chain Costa gives a 25p discount to customers who bring their own cups, but they admit that people have been slow to buy their reusable cups. They still only recycle 15-20 million cups out of a total of 230 million.

MP’s on a committee that is set to discuss how to deal with the problem have complained about cups being labelled as recyclable, when they often aren’t because the waterproof lining can’t be recycled along with paper.

Proposals to tax coffee cups or ban single use cups would surely be opposed by the industry, and this was rejected last year by ministers.