Throughout September, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) held 35 litter picks across England as part of its nationwide ‘Green Clean’.
As well as helping communities clean up their local green spaces, CPRE wanted to highlight the variety of cans and bottles discarded across our countryside, towns and cities.
Volunteers taking part in the Green Clean collected a total of 11,212 cans and bottles, with a range of plastic, aluminium and glass.
CPRE says it’s evidence demonstrates that there is no limit to the types and sizes of cans and bottles that are causing harm to our environment.
The data resulting from the Green Clean events will help the Government as it designs England’s ‘deposit return system’, which will provide a solution to recycling confusion and boost recycling rates for drinks container waste to more than 90 per cent.
The campaign believes the imminent introduction of a deposit return system is set to spark a recycling revolution.
“By introducing a simple deposit system the Government has a golden opportunity to end growing scepticism around current recycling methods, collect and recycle more materials than ever right here in the UK,” said Samantha Harding, Litter Programme Director at the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
“In recent times, there has been a noticeable shift in consumer behaviour and attitudes – people genuinely want to take responsibility for the amount of packaging used. We all want recycling to work, but our data clearly shows that current collection methods are failing.”