A district councillor wants to kick start a national campaign that would see fast food outlets pay a surcharge on packaging.
Coun Chris Brewis used South Holland District Council’s recent meeting to ask if it’s something that authority and its partner councils could campaign for.
“I remember how we used to hope to find bottles discarded we could take back and get a bit of money,” he said. “When a student at Durham University two lads collected £12 each after one event, a fortune in those days.
Is there any mileage as a district and partnership to start a national campaign to get fast food outlets to pay a surcharge on their packaging?
“The same thing would happen.
“If it’s thrown down people will pick it up and it would do wonders for the amount of rubbish thrown by the side of the road.”
Leader of the council Nick Worth said it was something they could look at but that government legislation was also being put forward along similar lines but this was ‘a little way off’.
“I remember the Corona bottles you could give back for money and when I was little used to cash in them quite a lot,” he said. “There’s national legislation coming through that should be forcing manufacturers and supermarkets to do what you’re talking about and my understanding is it should be rolled out at the same time as the food waste legislation comes into force.
“I can look into it and see if it’s something we could encourage.
“People are less likely to throw away bottles if they can get something from it.
