I came across two interesting news items today, relating to litter and recycling. Despite all the laws and all the 'keep Britain tidy' campaigns, this is still a major problem in the UK.
I'm still waiting to see whether the RBH will install cigarette bins outside their buildings, after my campaign earlier this year.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is campaigning to enable councils to do more to prosecute litter louts. As is often the case with legislation, a legal loophole (in this case the the Environmental Protection Act (1990)), is preventing local authorities from prosecuting people who throw litter from cars.
According to the LGA, litter thrown from vehicles accounts for a staggering 70% of all litter on our streets. Under current DEFRA guidance, councils are only able to prosecute people if they can be positively identified: hardly an easy thing for environmental officers to do when dealing with rubbish being thrown from moving vehicles! Some councils issue fixed penalty notices, others don't because of the legal obstacles.
Read more about the problem and find out about the LGA's campaign to get the law changed.
In better news, DEFRA is finally getting around to launching a pilot scheme looking at giving people cash incentives for returning empty bottles and cans. This follows pressure from anti-litter campaigner, Bill Bryson and CPRE who's "Stop the Drop" campaign was launched earlier this week.
The scheme which currently operates in Iowa, has apparently reduced the problem of litter by 70%.
Wikipedia has more info on American so-called 'bottle return' schemes
You may remember Reading University Student's Union blazed a trail on this issue last year, as the first Students Union in the UK to install a reverse recycling machine on campus.
Chris Huhne MP, who tried the machine on a visit to Reading during RUSU's "Go Green" week last year was suitably impressed, as were we. Let's hope it catches on in Reading soon.
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