Half of UK’s litter can be traced to 10 brands, survey finds

More than half of all identifiable litter in the UK can be traced back to just 10 brands, according to a new nationwide survey by environmental non-profit Planet Patrol.

For the third annual Planet Patrol litter report, 5,400 users of the Planet Patrol app logged over 85,000 pieces of litter across an estimated 27,000km of land, coastlines and waterways.

The resultant report found that Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Heineken International are responsible for nearly a quarter (23%) of all branded litter, while over half (51%) of branded litter can be traced back to just 10 brands.

Over one-third of litter came from drinks companies, with items such as cans, bottles and single-use cups making the drinks industry the largest overall polluter for the second year running.

The 10 brands responsible for making up more than half of the branded litter collected were: Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Cadbury, Red Bull, Walkers, Lucozade, Stella Artois, Tesco, Budweiser and Strongbow.

Of these brands, Coca-Cola products were the worst offender, representing over 10 per cent of all branded litter analysed in the survey. Coca-Cola has produced the most litter in all three years the survey has been conducted.

The report also found that the volume of metal litter, including cans, has nearly doubled in the past three years, rising from 8 per cent in 2019 to 15.5 per cent in 2021. However, there was some good news: the amount of plastic logged fell from 67 per cent in 2019, to 51 per cent in 2021.

“Just ten parent companies were responsible for more than 50 per cent of branded litter in the UK last year, and we’re seeing the same offenders like Coca Cola repeatedly in our data,” says Lizzie Carr, founder of Planet Patrol. “We are part of a fundamentally flawed system that continues to allow brands to pollute without consequence or accountability, whilst our environment pays the price. Litter is the symptom of a deeper-rooted, system problem – not the cause.”

Now, the group is calling for the government to implement a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which would see consumers pay a small deposit when buying drinks. The deposit is later refunded when the container is taken to a collection point. The UK’s first deposit return scheme will go live across Scotland in August 2023.

A UK spokesperson for Coca-Cola told the BBC: “We’re committed to reducing plastic waste and we don’t want to see any of our packaging end up where it shouldn’t.

“All of our bottles have been 100 per cent recyclable for many years, and we aim to collect a bottle or can for every one we sell by 2025, as part of our commitment to help create a World Without Waste.

“We also strongly support the introduction of a well designed and implemented Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). We have long advocated the positive environmental impact such schemes can have, and we will continue to work with Westminster and the devolved governments to champion DRS initiatives.”

The UK government promised to implement a DRS scheme as a key environmental policy in 2019. This has since been pushed back to late 2024 at the earliest.