Cleaner countryside

Litter mars the beauty of the countryside and can harm wildlife. It also costs local government hundreds of millions of pounds to clean up. But there is good news.

Charges for plastic bags from retailers took 13 billion plastic bags out of circulation in the first two years since they were introduced.

Now the government supports a deposit return scheme in which drinks bottles and cans can be recycled by consumers. Still to be clarified, however, is whether any size drinks container will be included in the scheme or only those under 750ml. CPRE is urging the government to implement an ‘all-in’ system where all sizes of containers are included for recycling.

Each year CPRE organises Green Clean litter picks across England. It uses the data gathered from litter picks to inform its campaign and to persuade the government to implement a comprehensive deposit return system.