Coca-Cola and McDonald’s sign up to litter prevention pledge

Fast food giants McDonald's and KFC, along with Coca-Cola Enterprises and Wrigley, have signed up to a litter prevention commitment organised by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.


Keep Britain Tidy launched its ‘Litter Prevention Commitment’ yesterday (15 May) at a Tidy Britain All Party Parliamentary Group meeting in the House of Commons. It aims to prevent litter on UK streets which cost £1bn a year to deal with, according to Keep Britain Tidy.

In a statement, Keep Britain Tidy said: “The Litter Prevention Commitment asks businesses, those who we have worked with in the past and new partners, to sign up, get on the right side of the fence when it comes to litter and join us in the battle to make our country litter-free.”

The food and drink giants will be working on raising awareness of the social, economic and environmental impact of litter. They will also be aiming to encourage responsible consumer behaviour in order to reduce the amount of litter dropped and to contribute to a reduction in the £1bn cost of cleaning up litter by taking positive action.

Each business that signs up to the Litter Prevention Commitment will be asked to make a financial contribution to support the co-ordination and promotion of the scheme.

The Commitment also asks businesses to think about cleanup costs, product and packaging design, recycling promotion, supporting anti-litter campaigns and wider social responsibility and the environment.

Speaking about the initiative, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Phil Barton said: “We have developed the Litter Prevention Commitment which we are pleased to be able to launch today, with the first four corporate signatories – KFC, McDonald’s, Coca Cola Enterprises and Wrigley.

“Litter and littering is unsightly, costs a fortune to clean up and has substantial negative effects; socially, economically and environmentally.

“Everyone must play their part in solving the problem. We believe the Litter Prevention Commitment will be a fundamentally important tool in driving the change we all want to see.”

Keep Britain Tidy said its Litter Prevention Commitment was initially designed for businesses but it hopes to extend it to make it suitable for public bodies, non-government organisations, educational establishments and individuals to sign up to in the near future.

Liz Gyekye

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