Litter campaign targets big firms

Big companies have been told to clean up their approach to litter.

Grime Scene, an organisation aimed at cleaning up the country, said consumers now expected the big companies to do more to encourage people to put their litter in rubbish bins.

Grime Scene said it would launch a wider version of an investigation in Wanaka and Alexandra in Central Otago, which revealed that Speight's beer cans and bottles, Coca-Cola cans and bottles and Frucor wrappings were the most common litter.

Ivy Willmott, from Grime Scene, said more investigations would be done on Waiheke Island, in Rotorua, Tauranga, Marlborough Sounds and other towns during Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week, which began on Friday.

She said 11 green groups, community groups and schools had agreed to keep statistics this year about litter they picked up. Data about the most commonly littered brands would be released later in the year.

During the investigation in Wanaka, 131 pieces of litter were collected from three areas, identified and recorded. Ms Willmott said the firms that appeared at the top of the litter list made a lot of money by selling their products to people having a night out.

"Big-name brands do make an effort to encourage people to use rubbish bins, but I'd like to see them take more responsibility for their product's life cycle, from material sourcing to waste recovery."

Ms Willmott said consumers wanted to know a firm would "take responsibility for its product in all ways possible. That includes environmentally and socially".

- NZPA