Campaign to Protect Rural England #GreenClean

Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE) has been campaigning for a deposit return system in England for 10 years, and in March this year environment secretary Michael Gove announced the Government would introduce one.

However, the campaign hasn’t ended there… The people who oppose a deposit return scheme, including drinks manufacturers and the packaging industry, are pushing for a restricted deposit system, that would only collect bottles and cans that are classed as ‘on the go’. They are saying that it is only small plastic bottles that are littered.

In response to this CPRE are collecting data on the numbers and sizes and materials of drink containers that are littered. CPRE will use the collective evidence from all the CPRE’s Green Clean litter picks in their national submission to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) upcoming consultation on the scope of England’s deposit system. CPRE will use local information and take it to the highest levels of government.

A Deposit Return System in the UK – how would it work?

Litter Free Dorsets #GreenClean

In September 2018 CPRE held a England-wide litter pick to collect data on the numbers, sizes and materials of drinks containers that are littered across the country #GreenClean

The Green Clean initiative was supported by Schools, Community Groups and Organisations including: Dorset Devils (Bournemouth Beach), Dorset Wildlife Trust (Worbarrow Bay), Litter Free Purbeck, Wareham Wombles, and West Dorset Conservatives.

Damers First School partnered up with The Thomas Hardye School and took part in a joint Litter Pick. CPRE even came into Damers school and did a presentation to yr3 on the importance of deposit return scheme.

If we're going to properly tackle our #litter problem, England's #DepositReturn system has to be the best it can be .

That means including every bottle, every can, every size – that’s plastic, glass, and aluminium, large and small.

RT if you agree 👇 #RecycleWeek pic.twitter.com/xp0MDfvpWP
— CPRE (@CPRE) September 28, 2018

Dorset Devils joined in with #CPREGreenClean initiative to speed up a national #DepositReturnScheme
20 staff from @bt_uk helped clean up and gather drinks containers. Blustery conditions. @SustainDorset @DorsetCPRE @cpredevon @TOGWalks @KeepBritainTidy @LitterFreeDrst pic.twitter.com/w0jSqpQkiU
— DORSET DEVILS (@dorsetdevils) September 21, 2018

Here's a count of items found by Swanage Army Link to support the #GreenClean exercise for @CPRE @DorsetCPRE pic.twitter.com/RKFRRMdyMm
— Litter-free Purbeck (@LitterfrPurbeck) September 23, 2018

The Reverse Vending Machine

The CPRE Reverse Vending Machine visited Dorset from 13^th to 15^th September. Volunteers were able to dispose of, and receive cash for, each of the drinks containers they picked, giving people a feel for how the national system will work and highlighting how financial incentives can help to boost recycling.

Volunteers taking part in the Green Clean collected a total of 11,212 cans and bottles of all shapes, sizes and materials. Over a third (35%) of those collected were made from plastic, 50% were aluminium, 14% glass and 1% Tetra Pak.

While plastic packaging has been making the headlines, this data shows that two-thirds of all drinks containers littered are made from other materials – such as aluminium and glass – and should be taken just as seriously.

Green Clean Gallery