The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has introduced a new Voluntary Code of Practice aimed at reducing littler levels arising from fast food products and promoting ‘the joint co-operation and community engagement that is key in driving up improvements in our local communities’.

Defra acknowledges that whilst businesses themselves do not drop the litter, their customers often do. It states the voluntary code is therefore aimed at working with companies in the fast food industry ‘in order to reduce food litter and waste in the environment’.

The ‘Reducing litter caused by ‘food on the go’ code seeks to help businesses identify where their worst litter problems arise and then work out how to solve these problems with other agencies such as local authorities.

Alun Michael, Minister of State for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality, said: “The government is committed through its Cleaner, Safer, Greener agenda to improving the areas in which we live and work. We are tackling these issues through a variety of approaches. This voluntary code is just one.”

However, he also stressed that finding a solution was not solely the government’s responsibility: “Local authorities, agencies, businesses and the public all have a duty to play an active role in solving these problems”, he added.

Identifying solutions

In the first stage of the voluntary code framework, local fast food businesses should seek to identify the main causes of litter outside their premises. For example, the framework encourages businesses to consider questions such as when the shop is most busy and if this is when most litter arises, who is doing the littering and whether current measures (such as providing litter bins) are sufficient.

Once the main problems have been identified, businesses can use the framework to seek solutions for their litter issue. These solutions are focused on four main categories: public education, packaging, waste and litter.

For example, the code suggests that a mobile food outlet (such as a burger or ice cream van) can display anti-litter messages or posters as part of an education drive, as well as seeking to reduce packaging and carrying out a ‘litter pick’ twice a day. It should also ensure it is complying with the duty of care on Waste Regulations, which legally requires businesses to manage waste correctly.

The code contains similar guidance for various types of food outlets, ranging from small to large properties and those whose primary purpose is to sell food, as well as those who sell food alongside other products (such as a newsagent or supermarket).

Detailed solutions

The document provides detailed suggestions for each solution category. Among the suggestions in the public education category are displaying posters, working with local schools to educate children and taking part in community campaigns (such as the In Bloom campaign) in order to raise awareness of the problem of littering. The purpose of these suggestions is to ‘get the message across that littering is unacceptable’.

Businesses are encouraged to seek to reduce packaging wherever possible in order to reduce the amount that can be dropped as litter. They should ask customers whether they need a bag rather than automatically providing them with one, except where providing a bag can reduce the likelihood of litter being dropped (such as at a ‘drive thru’ restaurant). The code states that displaying the Tidyman symbol on packaging can encourage customers to put it in bins rather than drop it on the floor.

Businesses must also ensure that their waste is in a controlled space (not left on the kerbside, for example) in order to prevent litter spillages, and that any spillages are cleared up immediately.

In terms of managing litter, the code provides businesses with a checklist designed to ‘help businesses to look at ways in which this litter can be reduced, ways that they can plan to reduce the impact that this will make, and therefore reduce their risk of prosecution’.

After assessing the problem, businesses should clear the litter from the front of their store, carry out litter picks and share their findings with local authorities in order to work together to solve the problem.

Resources

The documentation also contains 29 pages of annexes and appendices to support businesses interested in the framework. This includes a litter management checklist and litter pick chart templates, as well as information on how the framework was researched and put together. It also contains numerous case studies and advice on how businesses can work with local authorities and campaign groups to tackle the litter problem.

Speaking of the code, Michael stated: “[The Voluntary Code] seeks to formulate local solutions to local problems. We will only see the improvements that we all want when we begin to tackle the issues affecting our neighbourhoods in a mutually supportive way.”

Read the ‘Reducing litter caused by ‘food on the go’ code.