In partnership with McDonald's
It costs £682 million a year to clean the streets of the UK
Plastic waste is a blight on Great Britain. We use 13.2 billion cotton buds, 44.1 billion stirrers and 42 billion straws every year. The most of any EU country - and so they're being
banned.
Single use plastics are jettisoned, destined for our oceans and rivers, which are increasingly clogged with non-degradable waste.
McDonald's has been fighting plastic waste and litter since 1982, carrying out litter picks for 35 years they organise a minimum of three a day. It's easier to collect rubbish from the motorway than it is the Pacific Ocean. Although that's not to say the litter patrols are without risk, 32 Highways England workers were injured while picking litter between October 2014 and September 2017.
They collect 200,000 bags of litter every year from the UK's motorway network.
McDonald's staff cover a total of 3,000 miles each week on litter patrols. The company also implements recycling facilities at its restaurants, so customers can easily separate their waste paper cups and plastic straws for recycling.
Tim Barker, a highways traffic management operative, said: "Being so close to live traffic when collecting litter is extremely dangerous.
"We'd rather be doing something better. We're taken off other duties, important duties like potholes and making roads safe.
"The most unusual item I've collected is a fridge freezer. We do get abuse from people throwing stuff out of the windows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4j8B0r0hgQ
McDonald’s UK & Ireland CEO Paul Pomroy said: "We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and we can, and want to, be part of the solution – our straws are already 100 per cent recyclable, but we know more can be done. That's why we will be piloting paper straws in four restaurants in May. Additionally, customers have told us that they want to have to ask for a straw, so we’re acting on that and moving them behind the counter. Together with our customers we can do our bit for the environment and use fewer straws.
"We actively encourage and facilitate recycling inside our restaurants. Since 2015, recycling units have been installed in over 1000 of our UK restaurants, enabling our customers and employees to easily separate packaging for recycling. We proudly support a number of anti-littering initiatives across the UK and our own restaurant teams also carry out regular litter patrols in their local areas to stop the spread of litter."
Highways England’s head of customer and operational requirements, Freda Rashdi, said: "We are pleased to be able to support Keep Britain Tidy, which should help reduce litter on our roads.
"Litter is a particular issue close to service stations, which is why we are working closely with the service station owners on a number of initiatives to tackle litter.
"We already collect vast amounts of litter from motorways every year and as part of our support for Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean, we collected 8,200 bags of litter during the month-long campaign, despite the severe weather.
"But we’d much rather be spending our time carrying out other essential maintenance work and winter service work, such as repairing pot holes and gritting.
"The litter on our roads can cause a hazard to drivers, our workers and wildlife, and increases the safety risks for our workforce. So I’d urge everyone to keep a litter bag in their car and then put it in the bin when they get home to improve the experience of all drivers who use our roads."
